Celebrating 1 year anniversary since being hit by Mack truck
Survived Mack Truck
Celebrating 1 year anniversary since being hit by Mack truck
Do you know where you were a year ago at this time (March 12, 2012 3-6pm)? I do. I was in the ER following being hit by a Mack truck, with a collapsed lung, major concussion, 2 broken ribs, a broken scapula, covered in glass and bruises, no real memories starting from right before the accident and for almost a week afterwards, and a totaled vehicle.
This past Sunday I went out to dinner with Larry Lennhoff (husband) and a few close friends to celebrate my birthday and being alive. I’m mostly recovered. I still have some pain in my right shoulder and my ribs occasionally. I’ve had glass pop out 6+ months after the accident from my legs and face. My emotions are still a bit screwed up but 90% back to normal. I’m still having mild memory problems and reading, writing, and comprehension is down about 70-80% of what it was the month before the accident. The chronic fatigue is fully back.
For those that have been in a severe accident have you done anything special on the anniversary of the accident or do you try to forget it? I’d love to hear from you.
I am extremely thankful to still be alive and to have recovered more than the doctors had expected.
In May I wrote 2012
Kristen Lamb and WANA
Kristen Lamb wrote 2 books “We Are Not Alone” (frequently referred to as WANA) and “Are You There Blog? Its Me Writer“. There is even a hashtag for people to connect with Kristen and other WANA writers on twitter, #mywana . Her blog and the above mentioned books are required reading for anyone who trains with me as a social media intern or who comes on board as a client wanting to learn how to use social media to sell their books. I try to keep up with her blog regularly. One of my social media coaches, Lisa Alford, keeps up with her #mywana twitter group. My other social media coach, Jess Williams, keeps up with her blog. Both can look at what clients and others are doing and easily tell me when they are not following the WANA rules. A lot of what I was doing before I read Kristen’s books turned out to be part of WANA, but I did not have the right terminology until Beth-Ann Mason told me “Read her books or… ” I don’t remember what threat she used some 6 months ago, but I do know that I went online and bought both books right away and devoured them both within a week.
My Car Accident
As a number of my readers know, on March 12, 2012 I was hit by an 18-wheel truck and spent about 4 weeks in the hospital and a rehab facility; I am still recovering. My business had only been up and running for about 2 full months at the time of my accident. I expected, when I started checking in on my website and Facebook page after the accident, to find that my business was gone and that I was going to find that I was pretty much starting over from scratch. Instead, I discovered that my assistants, my husband, and even friends, had posted articles of interest on my FB wall and my FB business page. I found my clients had stayed with me. Contests were run by various groups to improve the number of likes on my FB fan/business page. The main thing I attribute this to is Kristen’s WANA principles. By following them, promoting others, sharing useful information, people, in turn, wanted to do something for me. So thank you, Kristen, for giving me such a great tool to pass on to others, a fantastic blog to continue sharing on my wall, and a fantastic Twitter group for people to be a part of.
I have been tagged
I have been tagged
Thanks to Kim Curley at Cupcake’s corner I’ve been tagged.
Your 11 Question’s to the theme, “If You Could…”
- If you could speak to a famous author, who would it be and why? Lousia May Alcott. I loved how she did not bend to the ways of her world but I also want to know how she survived the crazy upbringing she had and how she would feel about her books still being in print today and what she would think of Little Women and Werewolves.
- If you could quit your day job, would you write professionally? I already do. My day job for many years was as a technical writer. Then when I quit working I took to the internet giving advice and mentoring people on different fora. I have continued to do that with my new “day” job as a social media coach and I love it. I don’t think I want to write fiction full-time. I like the mix of blogs, other social media, non-fiction books based on social media, and fiction.
- If you could write a series of books, would you? It looks like my Jewish vampire book is turning into a series of short stories before I write the full novel so yes.
- If you could have one of your stories made into a movie, which one would it be? No clue on this one. I’m not sure how I’d feel about my stories being turned into a movie or TV series.
- If you could change any story you’ve read, i.e. classics to something recent, what story would it be and why? I just don’t have an answer for this. So many stories that I’d probably change but then they would not be the story the author wrote they would be a different story.
- If you could go anywhere in the world to get inspiration to write a story, where would it be? To be closer to my co-author Beth-Ann Mason. It would be so much easier to write if we were near by.
- If you could have an unlimited supply of something to help you with your writing projects, what would it be? Good health. To be over the chronic fatigue and have my mind and body fully functional.
Now for some fun!
- If you could be a Muppet, which one would you be? Oscar the grouch
- If you could go back in time, which era would you visit? Regency time period but only if I can be a part of the aristocracy and not be a servant or lower class person starving on the streets.
- If you could have a wild animal as a pet, what would it be? Koala bear – but I want it to be a soft and cuddly as they look.
- If you could be a super hero, who would you want to be? Wonder Woman
There you have it everyone. Post the link to your responses in a comment or just in a comment itself. Either is fine with me.
Taggee’s are as follow:
pick 5 people:
Your 11 Question’s to the theme, what would you do if… ?
- Your house were on fire what would you grab 1st to rescue?
- You could vacation anywhere, money no object, where would you go?
- Your book became #1 New York Times best seller, who would you tell 1st?
- You could go back in time, would you change anything in your life?
- You won a large lottery what would be the 1st thing you would do?
- You could travel in space. Would you?
- You could change one thing about yourself what would it be?
And for fun
- What’s your favorite flavor ice cream?
- What is your favorite musician?
- Who is your favorite movie star?
- What’s your favorite all time movie?
Dealing with Rumors
Rumors picture by Methodshop
What should you do when you find out people online are talking badly about you?
Oh no someone on the internet is saying something bad about me I must respond NOW. Before responding you may want to read my rules for appearing intelligent on the internet. Below are some of the ways to respond… or not.
1. I must correct them NOW or Maybe I need to respond.
- Can you respond calmly without harming your reputation?
- Will not responding hurt my reputation?
- Will responding hurt my reputation more?
- Does what they’ve said make any sense?
- Would a sane person believe what they are saying?
If you can respond calmly and feel a response is needed make sure to have a couple of people read the original statements in context (i.e. full post) and then have them review your response. It is critical if you decide to respond that you do so carefully so as not to harm your reputation more. Sometimes this is needed just do it correctly.
2. Who cares?
- Seriously people who know you are not going to believe what is said & those who know the other person may know not to trust what they say
- By ignoring what is said you make sure you do end up down at their level
I’ve used this method a few times. Each time I’ve come out ahead as people look at what I do and say and what is being said about me and see that it does not add up. Yes I may lose some potential clients and followers but not as many as I would have if I’d responded directly. In the end the person attacking me looked either vindictive or stupid. This can be surprisingly satisfying but I will admit I write the response I really want to and then put it away and re-read my rules on appearing intelligent on the internet after sleeping on it for 24 hours.
3. Would responding indirectly make more sense?
- Can you write a blog post about the topic without it seeming aimed at anyone in particular?
- Can you post on Facebook or other social media about “proper internet behavior” without it being too obvious that you are responding to the accusations?
I’ve used this method a number of times. Posting either on my blog or on FB about internet behavior as well as ethical behavior without the person who attacked me (and others) realizing I’m responding to the attack. By appearing to ignore the attack while posting useful information you create a win-win.
What do you think?
- How do you deal with attacks on you or your business?
- What has worked?
- What has backfired?
Target Marketing Increases Creativity
Target Marketing Increases Creativity
Does writing for your target market increase or decrease your creativity?
Many authors think it decreases creativity. I disagree and think it increases creativity.
What is a Target Market?
Your target market is who you are aiming to sell your book or any other product to. No product is aimed at everyone.
I’ve talked previously about how to do Target Market Research in a way that benefits both the person selling a product and the person being targeted on social media.
Writing a Book based on the Target Market
In this post I’ll be talking about writing books and how knowing your target market increases your creativity and makes your book easier to sell and more fun for the reader. I will use fairly simplified examples. Please forgive me for any stereotyping.
If you don’t know who your target market is you don’t know what kind of language to use when writing a book. This may hamper your creativity. How do you know how much sex to include? How much swearing? Which characters to focus on? Whether to describe clothing and settings in detail? How much to focus on explosions and bloody bodies? You can only go by your gut and hope your editor has enough knowledge of your genre to catch any mistakes you are writing.
But you are a 1st time author and are hoping to get picked up by a publishing firm. Or maybe you have decided to self-publish. How do you know which editor to hire if you don’t know your target market? How do you make sure your work is appropriate for your genre?
Yep you got it you need to know your target market. Once you know your target market you know what language to use. And you may realize you don’t want to write that book but something a bit different.
Genre & Target Market
If I’m writing a police procedural I know the readers are going to expect a mystery, dead bodies, swearing, bullets, some sex, not much romance, mystery solved
- If I’m writing a romance people are going to expect romance, softer language, some swearing but not lots, probably sex, readers like descriptions of people and scenes, eating/food, a pair that fall in love, frequently one of the pair will be rich, there will be misunderstandings, and a happy ending.
- If I’m writing chick-lit there will probably be mentions of designer clothing, fancy coffee, women, romance, sex, humor, happy ending
- If I’m writing men’s adventure (have you read one its … fascinating), lots of swearing, descriptions of women, sex, action, things exploding, action, more things exploding, more women, more swearing, an ending (I’ve only read a few I might be stereotyping too much here)
Are you seeing a trend yet? Ok but you are saying that is genre NOT target market.
But the more you know about your target market the more you are able to appeal to them in what you write. If you know 60% of romance readers have pets (NO this is NOT a valid stat I just made it up) then you might want to include pets in your books. If you know a majority of your readers are single/divorced/have kids/etc. it helps you with little details and ways to reach out to them. Either by including things that comfort them or things they long for or things they want to be scared by.
What do you think?
Agree or disagree?
Additional thoughts?
Have you written with your target market in mind?
Harnessing Goodreads
Harnessing Goodreads
Many authors hear they should go where readers are. They think this means go promote their books. This is because no one properly explains what you should be doing when you go to places like Goodreads and kindle boards to interact with readers. Here I’m going to talk exclusively about Goodreads and what your interaction should be there. This topic came up on my Facebook wall and a few authors gave me permission to share their comments on my blog.
Before we get to their comments let me give you my 2 cents.
Target Market Research
How many of my regular readers saw that one coming?
Why are you talking to readers? To learn more about what they like and what is important to them. On a Goodreads discussion group specific to a book or genre you can learn invaluable information about the kinds of characters and behaviors the readers you want to attract to your book are looking for as well as the things to avoid. You also learn more about their personal lives which lets you blog better. Worth more than just dropping promotions in. Worth way more.
- Any questions about how to collect and use the target market data?
Building Relationships
I know my regular readers saw this one coming. If someone likes what they are seeing of your comments on Goodreads they may friend you. Know what their next step frequently is? Checking out your profile. If you have properly linked your regular profile to your author profile they see your author profile.
What is on your author profile? Your website link, a short bio, your blog feed (if not, why not? get it there), and most importantly your books, the ones you wrote. If they have enjoyed your input in discussions they may add a book to their TBR or even buy it. They may read a post or two from your blog and click the link to go to your blog and subscribe to/follow your blog. Again this is worth more than dropping promotions in. These are the people that if they do read your book and like it are going to review it and tell their friends about it. Why? Because they are book lovers. Chances are their friends look to them for “what to read” advice. So you don’t want to tick them off by trying to promote your book.
- Has anyone done this successfully?
- Do people agree or disagree?
Keep Your Profile Up-to-Date
Make sure you are keeping your profile up-to-date. If you don’t know how to add your books, make sure the proper covers are added, all editions are links, etc. find someone who can help you or read through the help files. I was able to add the basic information of someone’s kindle edition, message them, they just had to go to the right librarians thread, drop a link to the 2 editions and ask that they be linked and mention the covers and blurbs were identical and it was done for them. Took less than 15 minutes of both our time.
- Any questions about author profiles?
- Do you understand the difference between a personal profile and an author profile?
- Did you know you have both an author and personal profile?
Writing Book Reviews
If you decide to do book reviews on Goodreads keep in mind that your readers and your critics are reading your reviews. Do NOT use inflammatory language. Give honest reviews worded respectfully and make sure to include positive points as well as negative. Only review books in a genre you like. Do not appear to bash “competitor” books.
- Any questions on writing book reviews?
- Do you worry about reviewing other people’s books?
Reviews of Your Books
Don’t respond to reviews of your book. If it is a close friend or someone who told you they would review the book go ahead and thank them for the review although even then I’d recommend doing it privately so the review’s validity is not viewed as “well friend did it so ignore this review”. Never, ever, ever, did I mention NEVER respond to bad reviews of your book publicly. Only respond to negative reviews privately if by a friend if you are hoping to get clarification that will help you with future writing and are NOT responding in a defensive manner. Responding to a negative review does a few things:
- Calls attention to the review
- Creates a scene
- Makes you look worse
- Frequently turns your supporters against you as things rarely end at a single response
- May permanently end your writing career and make you the talk of the internet with parodies and even news stories written about your behavior
- Stops sales of your book in its tracks
Just in case I was not clear enough above. It may be career suicide to respond to negative reviews of your book. I will be doing a full post later on how to deal with negative reviews.
- Any questions on responding to reviews?
Terry Simpson
Here’s the misconception with Goodreads. Not everyone uses star ratings the same way. It took me a while to find that out. Some people’s rating have NOTHING to do with what they think of the book. For some people it’s where that book stands in their TBR list. For some each star represents a section of the month they want to start a book in. For some, it’s how much they are looking forward to a book. There are so many different reasons, that many star ratings should be ignored.
The Key to Goodreads is not to go on there with the intention of promoting your work. Go on there with the mindset of a reader. Generally readers don’t want to be spammed or sold to.
Nicola Jaffe
That is true about readers not wanting to be spammed. I learnt that lately from some reader groups, they designate specific threads for authors and they don’t want authors spamming anywhere else. The good thing is you can go into threads and read what they are discussing to get an idea of how they think and what they are looking for. What they want and what they detest, it is all there in the threads of discussion. By entering the discussions sincerely, you can get their attention, become interested in their topics etc and maybe they will follow you up. #mytwocents.
Tara Fox Hall on Handling Rejection & Introducing Her Latest Book: Shadow Man
We are very excited to have Tara Fox Hall visiting today. Take it away Tara!
A huge thank you to Tasha Turner. for having me here today! I’m here today to promote Shadow Man, the second book in my paranormal action adventure Lash series.
HANDLING REJECTIONS
The harsh truth is that if you are a writer, you are going to have to come to terms with rejection. It happens to the best of us on a regular basis. Here are some do and don’t tips for handling that “Sorry, but No” answer in your inbox or mailbox. Best of all, this advice can be applied to ALL kinds of rejections, not just for artistic creations.
- Do not take rejection personally. Sure, it’s possible that the editor or other publisher representative hates you, your work, and your pet snake. But it’s more likely that your work—for whatever reason—is just not a good fit for them. This could be anything from the publisher having already accepted a story similar to yours, not liking your voice or the tense or the POV, thinking the story sounds too much like an excerpt from a novel, or simply being so swamped with submissions that they are currently full of your genre. I’ve heard all these reasons at one time or another. Be prepared though to get no reason, just the “no” answer.
- Consider all feedback and apply. What appears to be a “No thank you” is not always a “no, thank you.” Did the rejection include suggestions for making the submission longer? Shorter? Submitting for a future issue, or to a sister publication? Give thought to any suggestions, as they may hold the keys to a yes answer next time.
- Look for other avenues and submit ASAP. So you weren’t accepted there, AND you’ve gone over your story once more and confirmed it’s well written, typo free, and formatted correctly.Search out another avenue and try again as soon as possible. Personally, I find this is the best salve for rejection.
- Don’t give up, a.k.a, repeat above steps as needed. Promise Me was rejected by all the agents in the industry, as was Lash. All that Remains, Take the Chance, and other short stories of mine were rejected on average four times before finding a home. Keep submitting! All you need is one editor to say yes!
The same advice above holds true in all rejections, be they blind dates, a job, or maybe even friendship. If someone doesn’t know you personally, they are judging you solely on the basis of the little that they DO know about you. And even if they are—-in worst case scenario—-mean in their rejection, do your best to shrug it off. Their opinion is not the whole world’s opinion. Don’t let that stop you from making your dreams come true!
Blurb from Shadow Man:
A renegade vampire begins amassing a flock of true believers, threatening America’s vampire hierarchy. Weresnake Lash partners with old enemy Danial and new allies Burl and Spiderboy to track down and annihilate them. Betrayed and left for dead, Lash reemerges the victor, edging ever upward in the Assassin’s Ranking, and catching the eye of the sultry nightclub singer Cassandra Nile. Drawn into drugs by Cassie, Lash begins to doubt himself, yearning to leave his life of violence, even as enemies close in from every side.
Excerpt from Shadow Man:
“What’s that smoke?” Spiderboy asked, changing back as he pulled on his clothes as fast as he could. “Something’s burning, and it’s huge!”
My gut clenched like a fist, and I hit the accelerator, swearing to myself.
***
I drove up to the small town outside Lafayette at dusk. It was smoking, and the grocery store and the diner were partly burned. There was no one in their homes, and no pets to be seen. The old man I’d spoken to years ago was gone, his house empty, the lights on. But something made me curious. By the breakfast plates set out in the kitchen, it was clear that he’d been fixing breakfast this very morning. So how had the vampires come for him in daylight?
We checked the other houses, our guns out and ready. Everyone was gone, though some, by the blood and mess left in the houses, had not gone willingly. By the time we were done, it was full dark.
When we went to the church, we found that it was burned too, to the ground. Standing in the still-smoldering ashes was a three-foot-tall pole, the top covered with a black bag. Spiderboy’s eyes were very wide as he stood, staring, but I just walked up to the pole, and gently took the bag off. As soon as I did, Spiderboy threw up behind me, making mewling sounds.
Stuck on the end of the pole was Jeanna’s head, her mouth lolling open to reveal a tongue that had been split by a knife so it was forked. Her fangs had been pulled out, and her eyes burnt to cinders. The word ‘traitor’ had been deeply burned into the flesh of her forehead.
I stood for a moment, considering the message. The forked tongue meant Eli knew I was spying on him, or that I’d been working with her. The brand of ‘traitor’ and the pulled fangs meant he knew it was Jacob behind this, that Jeanna hadn’t been working just with me. She’d been covered to ensure that the sun wouldn’t be able to erase what she’d suffered before I got a chance to see it.
I didn’t know who’d killed her or tortured her, but someone had come for the humans here in the day, to take them. And there was only one group I knew of that worked for Eli who could walk in daylight: the members of the werecreature church.
Buy Shadow Man at the following locations
About Tara Fox Hall
Tara Fox Hall’s writing credits include nonfiction, horror, suspense, action-adventure, erotica, and contemporary and historical paranormal romance. She is the author of the paranormal action-adventure Lash series and the vampire romantic suspense Promise Meseries. Tara divides her free time unequally between writing novels and short stories, chainsawing firewood, caring for stray animals, sewing cat and dog beds for donation to animal shelters, and target practice.
Connect with Tara online:
Website: www.tarafoxhall.com
Email: tarafoxhallATgmailDOTcom
Tara’s Blog: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5286654.Tara_Fox_Hall/blog
Tara’s Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tara-Fox-Hall/151813374904903
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/TerrorFoxHall
Amazon Webpage: http://www.amazon.com/Tara-Fox-Hall/e/B005YPAA4W
Tara also runs a monthly contest on her website where one lucky winner will win any of her latest release in eBook form. To take part email her to join her mailing list.
Promote when You are a Guest
Promote when You are a Guest
By Tasha Turner
Always say thanks when someone guests you on their blog (tweet this)
If you are a guest on someone’s website/blog it is really important that you promote your appearance and thank them for having you. Otherwise they are unlikely to be interested in having you again. For example: If I post a link on your page saying “hey I got your post up” it is not hard for you to comment “hey thanks looks great”. Nor is it hard for you to comment on the post or share it from there. This is the same for author spotlights, interviews, anything except a review (well if I post it to your page you could say thanks).
When I’m hosted on someone’s blog I do a quick except on my blog and link over to their blog in addition to FB and tweeting about it and tagging them in the shares and tweets. Why? To drive traffic to them as a thanks for having me.
Remember social networking is about building relationships. This means thanking people when they do something nice for us and when we can helping their visibility as well as our own.
- Anyone have other thoughts on this?
- Does anyone do anything to make their host feel special for having them on their blog?
- If you don’t do this why not?
It’s the Digital Age Take Advantage
It’s the Digital Age Take Advantage
Some days I wonder; who am I giving advice to authors? I don’t have a book published. Then I read a blog or a book by a major best-selling author giving advice to newbies … or realize I’m shooting the breeze sharing advice with one on twitter and I realize all these years of being on the fringes of hanging out with big 6 editors, authors, and others in the biz has taught me a lot. Do they know me by name? No but their friends do, and some might think I look familiar… that has to count for something right?
Books rarely sell right after you’ve taken an action but your name gets out there. (tweet this)
photo by cellar_door_films from Flickr
Branding yourself takes time. You need a marketing plan that covers the next year (or more). Know your target market. In the digital age books can stay on the shelves longer than ever before so take advantage of the time. Get your name out there. Be friendly. Be helpful. Be interesting to your target market.
Promote yourself more than your books. (tweet this)
And never, ever forget: WRITE A GOOD BOOK. Write another book. Rinse and repeat. The above is true whether you are going traditional publishing or self-publishing.
- Thoughts?
- Comments?
Help a Writer Pictures – Good or Bad?
Help a Writer Pictures – Good or Bad?
by Tasha Turner
Are we asking our fans to work for us and forgetting to thank them for buying our books? (tweet this)
I like points 1 and 2 for sure. Points 3 and 4 are nice and like the way they are worded here without pressure or guilt and acknowledging the reader’s time.
My issue with many of these “help a writer” pictures is that they ignore the fact that the reader has helped the writer by purchasing the book. I feel like they should say “additional ways to support your favorite writers” or “another way to show love to a writer” but I’m concerned that we are starting to devalue in my mind the biggest thing people do for us writers… Buy our books.
This one bothers me more. It seems more demanding on the reader. I do like the last line. But I’m concerned the last line is lost in the demands above it.
One of the signs floating around also accidentally offend book reviewers so before posting a sign we need to look at the wording carefully and think about who will see it and how it might sound to them. I can’t find the one that had a number of book reviewers talking about and being upset about it. I hope one of my readers has it and shares it with us.
- Do you have other “help a writer/show love to an author” pictures? If so please include a link/share the picture in the comments. And your thoughts about it.
- Thoughts on the ones you’ve seen?
- Did you like them? why?
- Did you not like them? why?
- Do you think these are good ways to educate and motivate our readers?
- if so why?
- if not why?
- Readers what are your thoughts?
- Have you seen these?
- How do they make you feel?
Don’t make me fell like a loser please comment…. or you know don’t I’ll survive… Is the guilt working? Yeah I didn’t think so.
Creating a Book Review Policy
Creating a Book Review Policy
As mentioned during the Tasha Turner Coaching Virtual Blog Tour we are finally creating a book review policy. Ritesh Kala and Natalie Star helped us draft this policy. During the time of the tour there were a lot of discussions on the web between book reviewers and authors.
What Makes for a Good Book Review Policy?
Good book review policies make life easier on everyone ~Tasha Turner (tweet this)
- Easy to find on website
- Clear on what kinds of books are accepted
- Names and how to contact
- What to include when contacting the 1st time
- How long to expect a response to take
- Not a lot of other information on the review page that is NOT necessary for the author to know
Our policy
We have a bit of a backlist so it may be a a while before we get to your book. Please let us know if the book you are asking us to review has an upcoming release date or a special promo date and we will do our best to accommodate it.
Reviews will be posted here on Tasha Turner Coaching’s blog, Goodreads, Amazon and linked to our Twitter and Facebook accounts.
What to Send to the Appropriate Reviewer
Send an email with the following information
- Subject line: Review Request for >name of reviewer
- Book name
- Book blurb / synopsis
- Book cover
- A link to Amazon or any other place your book is available for purchase
- A link to your website / blog
- Publisher name and link to their website
- Author bio
- DO NOT SEND A COPY OF THE BOOK
- DO NOT ASK WHEN WE WILL HAVE THE BOOK REVIEW READY
- Be patient we will get back to you as soon as we can
If we accept your book please send it to the Appropriate Reviewer
- In a separate file: A bio and links to where you can be found online will be put at the end of the review on our site ONLY. Your bio should be short with links for where you can be found on the web – your blog, link to your amazon author page (or book), FB, Twitter, – where ever you WANT people to find you/friend you/follow you. You do NOT have to include every link to every place you are as that is overwhelming to readers.
- Paperback, epub, mobi and pdf copies will be accepted for review. Mobi is the preferred format.
Reviews we will Post and Ones we Will Not
If your book received a good rating, we will most certainly promote you, as an author, as well as your book. We are happy to host giveaways, blog tours, guest posts and interviews. We expect YOU to promote your posts as well as to comment on any post. If we do a review you should promote the review but not comment. For books that we do not feel are up to snuff we will talk with the author to discuss whether to post or not.
Tasha reads the following kinds of books
- Sweet romances (heat levels 1-3) . I do not read heat levels 4+ (no erotica, no porn, no really graphic sex scenes)
- Mystery
- Historical fiction/mystery/romance
- Paranormal/Urban Fantasy
- Thrillers/suspense/spy
- Cookbooks (except for seafood only – tasha also keeps kosher which limits what recipes she can try)
- Jewish fiction (NO holocaust, I do NOT read hebrew/yiddish/ladino/etc. ENGLISH only books)
- Does not read: technical material, political material, non-fiction in general, biography’s/autobiography’s/memoirs, history, religious material (except Jewish as mentioned above), poetry, erotica, graphic violence, graphic sex, rape, incest, books where anyone is abused except in special circumstances (book is to highlight the problem with said things and is NOT graphic in its descriptions abuse) …
Jess Reads
- All Romance including erotica (NOT porn)
- Mystery
- Horror
- Crime
- Paranormal/Urban fantasy
- Historical Fiction/Mystery
- Thrillers/Suspense
- Action/Adventure
- Cookbooks (excl. seafood specific)
- Young Adult
- Does not read: technical material, religious material, poetry, political material
Lisa Reads
Lisa will update her info in a few months when she is back from personal leave.
Social networking is building relationships
Social Networking is Building Relationships
By building a network you create something bigger than yourself. ~Tasha Turner (tweet this)
Benefits
It is a wonderful feeling to put two friends in touch and see something wonderful happen. Be it a guest spot on a blog, a book cover, a beta reader, a new supporter, new friendships, I know my network is working. You just never know what the new person you meet might become to you:
- A best friend
- New publisher of your book
- A new partner in business
- Your best word-of-mouth customer
- A lurker who you never get to know but who is suggesting you/your book/product quietly
- Cover artist
- Editor
- Your enemy for life that makes you work harder to do better and prove them wrong (hey you never know… LOL)
Image by wonder_j
If
If you spend all your time thinking “what will the person do for me” rather than “let’s be friends” and “what can I do for them” you will never find out what they could have been for you.
If you are always wondering what someone can do for you; you are confused about social networking. (tweet this)
If you are wondering how to bring your book/product/service up instead of just being part of the conversation you are confused. Let them find your books/etc. by following you to your blog.
Questions for You
- What have you gotten from your online network?
- What were you expecting from your network?
- What techniques have you used to build your network that have worked?
- What do you like the least about social networking?
- Do you agree or disagree with me on social networking being about building relationships and the sales will happen organically?
Teaching Target Marketing
Teaching Target Marketing
Teaching target marketing is hard work. Every time I think I’ve mastered how to explain it someone comes to me saying “I’m still confused”.
Today I’m looking for help from my readers. Here are my questions for you:
- How do you explain what target market is to someone? (tweet this)
- How do you research your target market?
- Do you have any favorite websites on target marketing?
- What is your book genre and who is your target market?
Book Pitches
Book Pitches
Today I worked with my publisher Tri Destiny Publishing, co-author Beth-Ann Mason, Author, and my clients on writing pitches for our books.
cover by Covadonga Palacio Perez
Assignment
The assignment was: write in 5 sentences or less:
- what’s key to your story,
- who your readers are,
- why it’s unique (aka: why will it sell).
My Pitch for The Satmar Vampire (WIP)
So many vampire books available it can be overwhelming, but what about Jewish vampires? Ones that can go out during the day, are immune to holy water, crosses, even being staked through the heart? Targeting men, women, Jews in their 30s and 40s, my book focuses on best friends turned in one moment from men fleeing a concentration camp into vampires. What if one goes on a killing rampage? How do you decide between human strangers and your best friend and the only other Jewish vampire?
Can you pitch your book in 5 sentences? Challenge your friends (tweet this)
Your Assignment
- Comment / critique my pitch
- Write a pitch for your book
cover artist, Covadonga Palacio Perez.
