Guest Blogger: Author Marian Allen shares her thoughts on the long road to publicity

As part of her blog tour for her novel Eel's Reverence, author Marian Allen is visiting "The suspense is killing me" and I know she has some valuable advice to share. Welcome, Marian.

The Long Road To Publicity

I think of EEL'S REVERENCE as my first real novel. I decided to write a novel when I was in junior high--or maybe high school. At any rate, let's just say I wasn't a child prodigy. The world should give me a medal for not saving a copy of that monstrosity.

After that thing, I wrote a gothic romance with a male lead character who didn't have a romance. I've rewritten that book multiple times and now like it very much, and I think (fingers crossed) it's found a publisher.

Meanwhile, after the gothic, I took the time to go to some workshops and I joined a writers group (I still belong to it--the Southern Indiana Writers Group).

In the early 1990s, I wrote three books which I placed with electronic publishers. Back then, "electronic publishing" meant that people ordered the books through the mail and received 5 1/4 floppy disks with the books on them.

My first electronic publisher quit the business. My second one did well for me at first, but sales dwindled. A couple of years ago, I retrieved my rights to the three books and submitted them to Echelon Press, which accepted all three for re-issue.

I'm currently on a blog book tour for EEL'S REVERENCE and previewing FORCE OF HABIT, which is due out in November--and thank you for hosting me!

So what was the difference between my first two publishers and Echelon?

Echelon is a good publisher, but those two were also good publishers. All three houses had/have close working relationships with their authors, all three did/do everything they could/can to make noise for their authors. So what's the difference?

I would like to say that the only difference is that the other two were way ahead of their time. I would like to say that the other two had some flaws that Echelon doesn't have, or that Echelon has some attitude or clout that the other two didn't have.

But here's what I think is really the difference: Echelon has a different author.

Since the time I retrieved my rights, I've done quite a bit of research on the ebook market. I've joined marketing email lists. I've read marketing blogs and books. I've taken a blog book tour class and I've studied other writers' blogs and techniques. I've learned how to build a professional blog and, I hope, use it effectively. I've put up inexpensive or free short stories on Kindle and Smashwords to use as promotional items. I've sold short stories to anthologies and taken those to signings, and have volunteered to sit on panels at conventions and workshops.

I expected my previous publishers to do most of my publicity for me, and thought all I had to do was notify my hometown newspaper and all my friends and relations, "Here I am! Come and buy!" Echelon benefits from my having done a little wising up.

Takeaway advice: If you want a good publisher, don't just be a good writer; be a good author.

CONTEST:

Anyone who leaves a comment at one of my blog tour stops AND mentions EEL'S REVERENCE will be entered. Anyone who buys the book and posts a review anywhere and includes the link to the review as a comment to any of those posts will be entered five times. All entries will be numbered and the winning numbers will be chosen by random number generator. Only one prize per entrant. First winner gets first choice of prize.

Prizes:

• Free copy of EEL'S REVERENCE or FORCE OF HABIT, my upcoming sf/farce. (2 separate prizes-1 of each)
• Free softback copy of SWORD AND SORCERESS XXIII, with my story "Undivided" in it.
• Free softback copy of DYING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND, with my story "Team Player" in it.
• Your name in the story I'm going to write to promote FORCE OF HABIT.

EEL'S REVERENCE

When elderly priest of Micah, "Aunt" Libby, goes on a Final Wandering, she's accosted and then befriended by an amphibious mugger. The area known as The Eel is infested with worse than minor criminals--it's under the thumbs of a coalition of greedy, brutal priests. Aunt Libby is a frail barrier to stand between peace and violence, and the worst violence may not come from her enemies...but from her friends.

EEL'S REVERENCE is available from OmniLit and Amazon's Kindle Store.

For as long as Marian Allen can remember, she's loved telling and being told stories. She enjoys connecting and reconnecting with people, meeting new friends and keeping in touch with the friends she already has.

Her writing reflects this love of network. No one exists in total isolation, but in a web of connections to family, friends, colleagues, self at former stages of maturity, perceptions and self-images. Most of her work is fantasy, science fiction and/or mystery, though she writes horror, humor, romance, mainstream or anything else that suits the story and character.

Professionally, she's a member of Southern Indiana Writers, Writing and Promotion (WRaP), and Green River Writers.

Her web site is http://MarianAllen.com

Konrath says "steal this book"; Tardif says "please don't steal mine"

So the debate over book piracy is still alive and kicking over at author JA Konrath's blog. I, for one, don't have the time or energy, to be beating this issue with a stick on a daily basis, but I have put my two cents in here and there and I did successfully get some of my material removed from a pirate site. Piracy is theft; it's that simple. Copyright laws are in place for a reason and until those laws change, I won't and can't condone copyright infringement and piracy, unlike my fellow author Joe, who embraces it and welcomes it. However, I'm not going to spend my days hunting down every pirate either; I have a business to run and novels to write.

I'm busy working on creating more value for my fans and more new works, but don't think I'll shrug it off if I find one of my works pirated. A lost sale is a lost sale. If you were interested in a book enough to search for it on a pirate site and download it (possible viruses and all) for free, you should still be interested in it if it's priced affordably (ironically, Joe believes in making ebooks affordable too.) My ebooks are $1.99 and $4.99 (the latter going down to $2.99 in July.) My new release Lancelot's Lady will launch in late September at $7.99--for a brand new book. You can't tell me these aren't affordable when the majority of books are priced much higher.

So how inexpensive do these book pirates want them? What's their price point? DUH! Free, of course. That's why they go to the pirate sites in the first place. Sadly, many get caught in the "free" cycle and that's where they stay for the most part. When they want a new book, they request someone download it. I'll admit, there are probably some who WILL use pirated copies to "test" an author out, as some pirates have defended. Then they'll run out and buy the book or another of the author's works, or so they tell me. I just don't see this as being the majority.

Since I got involved with the pirate debate, I've had about a dozen admitted pirates take up my offer of a free ebook (for their own personal use only)--and all said they'd consider buying it or another of my works afterward. As far as I know none of them have done this yet--and I asked them to let me know.

With Joe's "experiment", I believe he's cashed in quite smartly on this controversy. Kudos, Joe! He's using the hype of the situation to create awareness, publicity and branding. But don't get too caught up by the numbers he's quoting. Let's get real here: Joe sells exceptionally well --period. Just read his blog and you'll see his numbers. So, for me, his experiment does nothing but prove he's good at capitalizing on free publicity (something I'm fairly good at doing myself). It certainly won't and can't prove his claim that piracy doesn't hurt sales.

It's a skewed experiment that will show an increase in sales. Joe will always have great sales--because he's good at marketing his books and because all his new pirate friends who accepted his free ebook will want to defend their belief in piracy so a few will now pay. More than likely, the increased sales are from non-pirates who happen to read his blog or like his work or read about him online...or read about the experiment. There is no way to determine where those sales came from. Joe may not view the 15% or so he's lost to piracy as a big deal (or as real lost sales) because he's still making more than enough to pay his rent/mortgage and bills (and good for him!) For the average author, that 15% could mean the difference between having enough food for the month or keeping their home--especially in today's still-recovering economy. Not so good for them.

So while Joe says "steal this book", I'm saying "please don't steal mine." If you're interested in my books, download free samples from Kindle, Kobo or Smashwords, or visit my site and read samples on the cool BookBuzzr widget. (You can flip pages like a real book :-)

Here is MY challenge to pirates:

I challenge those of you who pirate books on a regular basis to read one of my FREE samples--you can read larger portions (50%) of my novels via Smashwords--then email me when you've decided to buy one of my novels at any of the ebook retailers I mention above and send me proof of purchase (the receipt). This will show me that pirates DO take pirated copies because they're looking for a way to sample an author's work and that the authors do then benefit by future sales. Of course, I'll be looking for staggering numbers, not just a handful.

I'll take my challenge one step further...you can call this The Tardif Effect ;-)

If you're a pirate who enjoys suspense thrillers, read a sample of my thriller THE RIVER on Kobo, Kindle, Smashwords or my site and email me when you're done. If after reading that sample, you're still intrigued by my novel, let me know and I'll give you the ebook for FREE. However, if you accept this challenge, you'll be honor-bound to email me with proof of purchase of any of my novels within, say, 6 months. This free ebook offer to pirates is good until the end of August 2010.

You can even share the file with 3 people--WITH my permission. BUT those 3 will be held accountable by the same terms. They'll need to email me to tell me they got the free ebook from you and then later email me to tell me that they've bought one of my novels. This should be quite fair in establishing that sales do result from piracy and that pirates are basically honest people--arguments I've heard numerous times.

I'm not saying "steal this book", I'm saying "please don't steal mine, but here, I'll give you a free sample, maybe even a free ebook and you'll have a chance to show me that piracy will help my sales, not hurt them." Prove this to me and I may change my views about book piracy.

Again, don't get me wrong, I think Joe is a great marketer. I just don't agree with him on this issue. I DO agree with him on most of his marketing advice though. So if there are any brave pirates out there who want to show me the error of my ways (or beliefs), please follow the above instructions. Without naming names, I'll report the results in as much detail as I can on my blog The suspense is killing me!

(No, really! The suspense IS killing me!!! lol)

Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
bestselling Canadian author
http://www.cherylktardif.com/

Update 2 on copyright infringement at 4shared.com

If you haven't read the 2 posts below, you may want to do so first. Here's another update on the problems of copyright theft at 4shared.com...

I've now heard from dozens of authors who have found their works posted to this site, and it's now come to my attention that some of the PDFs posted on 4shared.com may not contain full works. Some may contain excerpts and some may contain reviews. However, unless the member wrote the review, copyright law is still in effect.

Whatever authors choose to do and how they choose to handle these infringements is completely up to them. I really didn't want to download anything from 4shared and many authors may not want to, but I did so and found my copyright was still infringed. I discovered both my copyrighted text and reviews by others posted there.

In the end it boils down to one thing: authors must take a stand when their copyright is being abused. This is the same fight the music industry has had for decades. Artists and authors create the work and we lose money with these illegal downloads. While many music artists may be raking in big bucks, I can tell you most authors aren't.

Support Authors, Buy a Book!

When I grow up, I wanna be just like JA Konrath

If you're a reader, author, publisher or agent and you haven't heard about JA Konrath, then you must have been sleeping for the past 6 years and it's time to wake up and smell the margarita mix. JA, aka Joe, has become one of my book marketing idols and I aspire to be just like him "when I grow up". Truthfully, I think I'm a bit older than he is, and I really mean "when I figure out how to sell ebooks and make the kind of money Joe does."

JA Konrath is the author of the very popular "Jack" Daniels mystery series, and this guy knows how to sell ebooks--something I am just starting to get familiar with after taking back my ebook rights. In fact, he estimates he's selling 230 Kindle ebooks a day. WOW!

So what's the secret of his success? As much as he's been very gracious in sharing his techniques on his blog, I still can't see what exactly he's doing that is resulting in such high ebook sales--other than he's walked the walk, talked the talk and gotten his name (brand) out there any way he could PRIOR to going the ebook route. I've seen his name mentioned at events, conferences and everywhere online. Only a handful of authors seem to be making the ebook sales he's making.

I would like to be one of them. There! I said it. Out loud. In front of people. Ok, maybe only you, but I said it. I wanna be just like JA Konrath when I grow up. I am tired of making pennies and working long hours for such small financial rewards. Sure, money isn't everything; I LOVE to write! But I chose this as a career. Wait! That's not quite right. IT chose ME and wants to be a career. One where I make some money to validate the hours I spend pouring my heart and mind out onto my word processor, not to mention what I spend on marketing.

I was thinking of going back to school. Then I realized I AM in school. I'm attending Konrath University, reading his blog posts, reading his marketing book, studying everything he does, mimicking his techniques, creating some of my own and experimenting--because like Joe, I'm an experiment waiting to happen. And in case any of you are now rushing off to google Konrath U, I made that up. In other words, I'm kind of cyber-stalking Joe. He just doesn't know it. Yet. Or maybe he does...

Okay, break's over. Time to get back to my studies.

To learn more about JA Konrath, his novels and his amazing ebook sales, visit his blog A Newbie's Guide to Publishing and his website http://www.jakonrath.com. I'm hoping he'll add me to his links page since I blogged about him, so be sure to tell him you heard about him from Cheryl Kaye Tardif. lol

My ebooks:
Whale Song - available only at KoboBooks.com until June when it will be available thru Kindle and Smashwords.
The River - KoboBooks.com, Amazon Kindle and Smashwords
Divine Intervention - KoboBooks.com, Amazon Kindle and Smashwords

Lancelot's Lady - to be released September 27th via Kobo, Kindle and Smashwords.

Amazon reinstates author's reviews

Update on the Amazon reviews status:

For those of you who haven't heard, Amazon recently started deleting reviews by authors who included their own book title on the review, usually in the form of a signature line like...

Cheryl Kaye Tardif, author of Whale Song

I had 85 reviews deleted and went through a frustrating battle with reps at Amazon, who ended up putting my reviews back up, minus the author of...bit.

Read what happened next at Amazon reinstates author's reviews after deleting them - divine intervention?

Get Publishing writers conference in Edmonton

Writing Across Borders – A Get Publishing Event
May 1 & 2, 2009, MacEwan Robbins Health Learning Centre, Edmonton, AB

For a toolbox full of sage advice on getting your words in print across languages, genres, mediums and cultures, register today for Writing Across Borders, the latest Get Publishing event.

Set for May 1-2, 2009 in the Downtown MacEwan Robbins Health Learning Centre, this is an outstanding opportunity to rub shoulders with publishers, editors, an agent, grantors and other mentors in settings that invite you to ask the questions that most concern you.

· Keynote speakers: Annari van der Merwe (who has nurtured new voices at Random House South Africa) and Thomas Trofimuk (local writer whose work is crossing borders)

· Learning sessions on query writing, translation, online publishing, multilingual markets, marketing, copyright, taxes and more

· Instant feedback at fully interactive sessions: Pitch Camp, Mentor Café, Critiquing Circle, Grants Q&A, Marketing Your Book

· Marketplace, a lively space to meet publishers, writing groups and others of interest to writers

· Saturday celebration dinner with multicultural flair, food and fun

For more information or to register, go to www.getpublishing.ca.

Register by April 3 to take advantage of early bird rates.

To explore available bursaries or find out how to sponsor a writer, contact Cheryl Mahaffy, mahaffyc@shaw.ca, 780-479-3524.

Whatever you write – this is for you!

Should authors spend money on promotional tools and reviews?

There was a discussion recently on a forum I belong to; we discussed whether authors should spend money on promotional tools like bookmarks and whether they should pay to have their books reviewed. This is what I think about both...

Authors can't afford to throw away money; we don't make enough to do that. Writing (the actual act) is our passion--a hobby, if you will. SELLING our work becomes our business, and authors need to become business-minded if they're to succeed. Every business needs some form of investment, but you have to be careful.

There are ways for authors to throw away money and ways to get advertising and sales without paying a dime. Paying a service to market your books is not the smartest way to go. Try it once and you'll see what I mean. There are very few that deliver what they promise, and again you're throwing away hard earned money. I've seen and known many authors who've invested thousands in some company that promises to expose their book to thousands of readers or libraries or book clubs and they were lucky to sell 5 books. Their campaign is now buried so deep that no one finds it after a month or two. If you've tried a service that has resulted in hundreds or thousands of sales and can prove it, let me know and I'll be happy to advertise them. :)

No matter if you're self-published or traditionally published it is the author's responsibility to promote their books--if you want success. The trick is to learn how to do this effectively and affordably. My nickname is "Shameless Promoter", not just because I have a good handle on how to market but because I consistently sell books. I've spoken at writers' conferences in Canada and the US on this topic. I just booked another conference where I'll be speaking about using online networks to sell books. So I know what I'm talking about. :)

Should you get bookmarks? Uh, no brainer, people! I've observed many authors' techniques at book signings and if you don't have something to hand out you have lost 4/5 of the potential sales right out of the gate. I just finished an interview where I talked about mistakes authors make at signings. This is one of them. Bookmarks are an absolute must. Don't give out business cards; they just go into the garbage afterward or are filed somewhere. Plus they signify...business. At a signing, you want to signify pleasure, entertainment, a fun read. Business cards are only useful for handing out to people in the industry--store managers, agents, publishers etc. So buy some; they'll last quite a while.

At signings and events hand out bookmarks. Find an affordable printer to make them. Negotiate a deal for larger quantities, then order 2000 at the cheaper price. Have your book covers, website and blog URLS, email addy and a bit of intriguing text on both sides of the business card. One-sided means you've wasted half your advertising space. Bookmarks are not only useful, they create "after sales". People see them and are reminded to buy your book, or they realize you have more books (if you've listed them). I have Whale Song on one side, and Divine Intervention and The River share the other side. Right now I'm giving people extras at my signings and encouraging them to add them to stockings at Christmas.

Marketing your books online is the way to go in this day and age. Spending money on reviews is not. I have 50 reviews of Whale Song on Amazon.com alone, not to mention on various other sites. I never paid anyone a dime. Reviews are easy to get; you just have to know how and where to look. It takes creativity to get more than the average 10 reviews per book. You can offer to send review copies to reviewers whom you've researched--ones that have a high traffic blog, Google page rank of 3+, a faithful following/fan base, plenty of commenters, or are members of book clubs. Don't send them to just anyone. Or you can think of ways to encourage those who buy your books to review them. Why not hold a contest? Do a draw from all reviewers on Amazon and give them a prize you have had donated to you. Or say you'll pick your favorite review and give them a prize...get the picture?

There are other ways to market your books. Use online social networks like MySpace, Goodreads, Shelfari, etc and word of mouth advertising will spread virally--if you do it right. Hold other contests on your blog or website and to encourage more sales, have them answer a question where the answer is found in one of your books. The prize? Something that a company has donated to you in exchange for mention (free advertising). I get stuff given to me all the time. Every gift basket I've given away has been filled with gifts that have been donated to me in exchange for advertising them. How have I advertised them? A few posters in a bookstore, or on handouts in stores, and a mention on my blog/site.

I think the key is you just have to get creative and think outside of the box...or bookstore. We should be marketing to all venues--stores and online. And anywhere our readers can be found.

For more tips on how to promote your books in stores and online, please read my free marketing articles posted at: http://www.cherylktardif.com/articles-by-cheryl

If you have found my articles helpful, you could repay me by buying one of my novels for yourself or a friend. They make great Christmas gifts! ;-)

Cheryl Kaye Tardif novels are available on Amazon, Chapters.ca or your favorite bookstore can order them in for you.

Happy promoting!

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif

http://www.cherylktardif.com

'Dare to Dream and Dream BIG' - the motto I've lived by

Note: You know you're addicted to blogging when you still post something even though you've been suffering from major food poisoning for the past 2 days. This is the first day I've left the house and that was to go to the doctor for tests and medication. And we leave for Vegas on Monday...sigh...

Anyway, please enjoy today's post. It was featured on OnceWritten.com.

Daring to Dream Big

I’ve always been a dreamer, and I’ve always believed in dreaming BIG. Ever since I was a young girl, my goal was to become the next Stephen King―or 'Stephanie', at least. It’s been a long, hard journey, but one well worth it, and now I am published and on my way to greater success. I learned that with a dream, anything is possible. With a BIG dream, one never stops reaching higher. This is my story…

Read the rest of my story at OnceWritten.com.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
bestselling author of Whale Song

Watch for an article on Cheryl and her iPhone novel Finding Bliss in the Edmonton Examiner

Today I was interviewed by Kevin at the Edmonton Examiner and we discussed my latest endeavor--writing a novel titled Finding Bliss on the new iPhone 3G.

Japan was the first to start a cell phone novel craze, with mainly teenage girls text messaging their novels in bits and pieces. The novels were then created into files that people could download and read on their cell phones. This resulted in many bestsellers.

I'm taking this concept to the next level. I'm writing a chapter at a time on my iPhone 3G, using the Notes application. Then I'm emailing it to myself so I can save it to my PC and edit from there. Plus, one of my characters will actually use an iPhone 3G in the story.

While many authors keep a notepad in their pocket or purse to capture their thoughts, all I need is my iPhone. So far, I've written the first chapter and have started on the second.

When I'm finished, Finding Bliss will be given to my agent in New York. I expect it will be first published in book form, although I am hoping to see an e-book version as well.

The Edmonton Examiner article should be in Wednesday's paper (October 22, 2008).

Read more about Finding Bliss, the first novel written on an iPhone 3G.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif
bestselling author of Whale Song

Cheryl awarded "Most Popular" by Chapters Indigo Online Community

Gotta love awards. :) They make you feel special, like you've accomplished something. And the last few weeks, I've seen more awards than ever.

From The Best Blog of the Day Award that was awarded to me and 7 other authors for our multi-author blog Criminal Minds at Work, to a Gold Star for Excellence for my novel Whale Song. And now another one..."Most Popular" participant in the new Chapters Indigo Online Community.

This community is a place for booklovers and authors to come together. We can post reviews, post notes and message each other. I've met a lot of wonderful people through this community, including the wonderful CEO Heather Reisman, who is now reading Whale Song.

I started promoting this new social network as soon as it launched. In fact, when I ran out of my own bookmarks one time at a book signing in a Chapters store, I grabbed some of the ones advertising this online community.

I love to connect with people. I am always interested in hearing what they liked about my work--and even what they didn't like. Feedback like this allows me to grow as a writer. In fact, hearing from fans that they've enjoyed one of my novels is the only award I really need.

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my books and to everyone involved with any award I have received. I appreciate you all.

Now for any of you who have not yet joined, please come see me at the Chapters Indigo Online Community. It's free! Add me as a friend. Read some of my posts. Tell me about your favorite books.

Join now:
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/Community-Home/community_home-promonb.html

Visit my profile page:
http://community.indigo.ca/profile/Cheryl-Kaye-Tardif/29765.html

Booklovers unite!
~Cheryl Kaye Tardif
http://www.cherylktardif.com

Hot Trends, Hot Markets - Part 1: Social Networking

Today, I'll be presenting on a panel at the 2008 CanWrite! Conference in Edmonton, Alberta. The topic of my panel is Hot Trends, Hot Markets, and it's the only panel that runs separately as a main feature. As an author, I'll be looking at this topic from the perspective of aspiring and published authors.

As someone who's been nicknamed "Shameless Promoter" because I promote my books with everything I've got, utilizing everything I can think of or learn about, I want to share what I've learned. This information will help writers and authors connect with readers and fans, which can lead to sales once a book has been published.

The question I asked myself was: "Which hot trend or market is really on fire today, one that actually benefits writers and authors?"

The answer I came up with?

SOCIAL NETWORKING!

In the next few days, I'll post more here about this topic, but for now, let me give you the outline. Social networks are prevalent on the Internet, and if you learn how to use them correctly, you will benefit greatly. This is a way to meet thousands of people and an acceptable way to promote yourself.

There are three main categories of social networks:

1. Book collection or catalog networks - ex. LibraryThing, GoodReads, Shelfari


2. Book seller networks - ex. AmazonConnect, Chapters Community


3. True social networks - ex. MySpace, FaceBook, Ning (multiple networks here)

There are many more networks than just the examples shown above, but these are the most important ones, and I highly recommend that every writer and author utilize each of them.

In my next post, I'll explain more about how to use each type of network to the fullest potential.

For now, I invite you to click on the network links above and join each one. Please note: to set up an Amazon profile/blog on AmazonConnect, you must be a published author with books available on Amazon. The other networks are all open to writers and readers, as well as authors.

Please leave me a comment if you find this information useful. :)

Read Part 2.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
author of Whale Song
http://www.cherylktardif.com/