Promotions that work…

We’re halfway to the weekend and I feel as though I’ve been back pedaling. So much to do… So little time…

My latest book release went better than I expected it would. And I owe the success to the stacked ads and promotions that I ran surrounding the week of release. I’d read about doing this and was a little skeptical, but now I know it’s the thing to do. But for today, I want to talk about the biggest boost promotion that helped me.

I did run about 5 different ads for the release of SAFE. The sales began to rise, but they weren’t spiking enough to hit a bestseller list. That is until my double ad that I ran on https://faithfulreads.com/. Within an hour of the promotion hitting the Faithful Reads website and social media accounts, my sales began to go up at a rapid rate. All through the day they continued to rise.

Now, you may be saying, how do I know it was the ad through Faithful Reads that helped so much. Well, I kept up with all of my sales on the days that the other ads ran. And then when the Faithful Reads ad began, it was evident what worked. By the end of the day of the promotion, I was sandwiched between four top authors. It was exciting as I watched the rank rise. Then as the promotion was about to end, I hit #3 on the Amazon charts. The first and second place books were top ranking authors, so I was thrilled to be #3 behind them.

Over the last couple of years I’ve used Faithful Reads many, many times. They’ve always proven successful. And the fact that to run even a double ad with them is reasonable only adds to the awesomeness of using them. But remember, this promotional site is for clean books, no erotica books and no short stories, only books over 50 pages.

Their prices range from $30 to $65 per ad. They join with eReader Cafe for double features which cost the $60 or $65. And I can tell you this, it’s money well spent. They never disappoint. As an author, I’ll always use them for my promotions, and I hope you will as well.

www.faithfulreads.com

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Monday… One cup more…

Good morning! Wow, after a busy weekend, it seems like it flew by. I may need two pots of coffee this morning. And it’s rainy outside, so the yawns are long this morning, but I have at least 1500 words before I go to the office.

So, how do you reboot after a busy weekend? Coffee? Tea? Soda? This morning I gave myself a treat. Normally I just drink black coffee with a sprinkle of cinnamon, but this morning I added just a little French vanilla creamer for a boost. Well at least for the first cup…

Now, as I settle in to write and get in my word count, I’m refocusing on Broken, book 2 of the In Harm’s Way series. Book 1 has far exceeded my expectations in sales. I’m so psyched about book 2. I’ll be sharing the cover this week, or at least a peek at it. And if you think Safe was suspenseful, just wait until you start Broken. I’ve had to take a moment several times as emotions overwhelmed me.

So, hope you have a great Monday and enjoy at least one more cup of whatever it takes to get your eyes open… For me it’s always coffee.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Feeding the beast…

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Good morning! I’m not sure about you, but it feels like a Monday today. Maybe it was the long weekend…

Now, on to the post. Feeding the beast… The beast for an author is our overactive mind. And sometimes just writing doesn’t feed our overwhelmed minds. We have to keep feeding it or the crazies set in. Most writers have stories, characters, and words whirling around all of the time. Some days it’s hard to concentrate until I’ve written some of it out of my mind.

But, writing isn’t the only way to feed the beast. One of the great ways is to read. And try to read something out of your normal realm. It helps to give yourself a challenge. Read a new author… Read a new genre… Read…

One of the ways I feed the beast is to outline, or rework an old manuscript. I even revisit a discarded story that didn’t get anywhere. Anything to challenge my writers brain.

So, try it out. Exercise your writers brain. Feed it with reading, working, writing, and even learning more about your work. It helps.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Sunday Morning Coffee & Blessings…

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Good Sunday morning! As I sip my coffee this morning, I’m thinking of the blessings that abound in my life. I have an amazing family for which I’m so grateful. I have a career as an accountant and it’s blessed me beyond words. And my writing career has taken me to new heights as each book builds on the last. The Lord has blessed me in so many ways that sometimes I don’t feel like I deserve all that He’s given me.

Some days I just sit in awe of everything that’s good in my life. Now don’t get me wrong, there is bad in my life too. But I strive to keep it from taking away from the good. Sometimes I let my writing take the bad away. I lose it in the words.

So, my advice to you on this holiday weekend is to take a long look at your life. Even in the darkest places we need to count the blessings that we do have. And you don’t have to be a writer to write out your bad days. Grab a journal and write in it every day. If you’re having a bad day, then write it down and forget it. Leave it in between the pages.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Inspiration looms everywhere!

Have you ever thought about where your inspiration to write comes from? I think a writers brain is in constant motion. We see everything and process it as though it was a story. So many people ask me where all of the story ideas come from that I write about. I tell them it all comes from my overactive writers brain.

Do you ever go to the park and sit on a bench to just people watch? It’s fascinating, really. There are so many different people in different situations that pass by. You may see something that inspires your next novel. Maybe a couple walks by holding hands, whispering and smiling. It inspires a romantic tale. Or a man walks by with a trench coat on and a scary look on his face. You’re inspired to write a mystery.

The inspiration is endless if you think about it. Music you hear… Movies you watch… Stories you hear… And Life. Maybe something happens in your own life that inspires a story. I can look at a picture and it will inspire a story. Take for instance a beautiful picture of a foreign land. You may be inspired to write a international crime thriller.

So, where does your inspiration come from? One of my bestselling series, the Five Oaks Ranch Series came to me as we drove home from a beach vacation. I’d been playing with the idea of writing a ranch series about a family, but most of the elements just weren’t there. Then I began to see street signs as we drove down the interstate. The names of streets and towns began to fill my head. Soon I was searching for a notebook and pen in my writing bag that goes everywhere with me. From something as simple as street signs hanging from overpasses inspired a series. And with that inspiration, a series was born.

Always have pen and a notebook ready for that moment when inspiration strikes. It can happen anywhere, at any time.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Notebooks, Journals, & Pretty Note Pads…

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Good morning all! Most writers have a love of notebooks, journals and pretty note pads. There’s something about a colorful notebook that just inspires you. Then there are those that are so pretty that you hate to write in them, but you just have to. It’s like some sort of code.

My husband and son just roll their eyes when I buy another one. I have them everywhere so that when the mood strikes, I can make a note for a story. Is it a problem? For me, no it’s not. But others think that it is. Good thing I don’t set my ways on what others think.

There are so many different kinds. Spiral, leather bound, lined, plain, colored, floral, designer, sticky, big, small, thick, thin, the kinds are endless. But it doesn’t matter, they are work the way you want them too. Each of my series have their own notebook, not to mention numerous notepads with notes on characters, places, and scenes.

So, are you itching to buy a pretty notebook or a nice journal? I do think I might need to run out and get another one, just in case I use all the many I have now.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Midweek Writing Tip…

It’s already Wednesday, but the weekend seems so far away. I’m snatching a few minutes out of my morning to write and blog.

Speaking of snatching minutes to write… Today’s writing tip goes along those lines. It’s important to a writer to have time each day to write. It could be just a few minutes or if you’re lucky, maybe a couple of hours. Either way, try to sit down and write everyday if you can.

Why do you need to write everyday? Well, for me it helps my sanity. The characters running around in my head go crazy when I don’t at least get in a couple of minutes. But maybe it’s to meet a deadline, or just to keep up with your commitment to yourself.

So, if it’s early in the morning before anyone else gets up… If it’s at lunch… Or maybe you’re a night writer. Grab some writing time and keep up to good work.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Plot Bunny or Dust Bunny?

Good morning! I’ve been filled with lots of plot bunnies over the years, but there have been many dust bunnies too. What’s the difference you might ask? Well, let me enlighten you.

PLOT BUNNY…

A plot bunny is a story idea. And like bunnies, it multiplies rapidly if not handled. They can appear at any moment and will haunt you until they get their way. Now, not all plot bunnies are good. Some of them can be quite worrisome and filled with holes. And nobody wants a bunny with holes… These are dust bunnies!

DUST BUNNY…

Now, a dust bunny is something everyone has under their bed. You know the ones that even after you vacuum, sweep, and mop, they are still there just floating around and annoying you. Well, in writing, these are the plot bunnies that go sour. You know the ones, they are the ones that don’t pan out. A dust bunny has no hope of ever panning out. They are full of holes, like I mentioned in the above paragraph. So, with some planning and plotting, you can avoid falling into a dust bunny well.

As always, good writing and May God Be With You…

When you Water down your Writing…

Good morning! I’ve been reading a suspense romance that I saw in my Amazon feed. It looked really interesting, so I took a chance on this new author. And I have to say that I’ve really enjoyed it. Then when I finished it suggested a book that was supposed to be similar. No… It… Was… Not…

The first book was a edge of your chair, nail biter that had me hooked from word one. It was engaging, bold, and kept me guessing up until the end. But this second one, although it was good, it was not similar because it was as if the author didn’t want to go over the line or say something that would send someone running away. It was watered down and didn’t have the suspense to keep my interest. I did read it to the end, but it left me empty.

So, what about your writing? Is it watered down? Did you add that extra element to keep the interest or did you leave it off to keep up appearances? Now, I’m not saying to go over the line with some things, but in a suspense novel, there needs to be suspense. Hence the word suspense. Leave the reader hanging on your every word. It’s important. So just do it.

End your chapters with a cliffhanger to keep your reader interested. Have a couple of characters get suspected of something they didn’t do. Make your reader go down the wrong trail, only to be snatched back with a zinger. It’s the way a suspenseful novel should be. Be bold and daring.

And that’s why I’m enjoying writing suspense filled romance now. This book has been such an eye opener. The whole series will be all about the edge of the chair, never knowing who done until the end type of books. I want the reader to be hanging on every word. I want them to think it was someone else and find out later that the one they suspected was actually innocent, but the one they thought was innocent was guilty. It’s the kind of writing that gives you a giggle and makes you want to jump out of your seat with excitement.

Now, not everyone likes suspense which is fine, but with my newest series, ‘In Harm’s Way’, I’m adding a dab of romance and some Christian essence to give it a different flare. It’s clean, but edgy. Is that even a thing? For me it is and as I’ve always said, it’s a world from my head, so anything goes.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Safe is coming soon, so keep watching for the release date…

Plotting through the hard spots…

Good morning! It’s been a little while since I’ve posted, but tax season is kicking my backside. With all of the new tax law changes and programs having to catch up, well, it’s cost me a lot of writing time. And you know what that does to me.

But, on to this post. Plotting… Yes, it’s something I love to do. And there are so many ways to do it. Either on paper, on a computer program or in your head, which I don’t suggest this last one because sometimes our memory doesn’t serve us well.

Plotting to me is like building a structure. You’ve got to make sure to get the base right, or the rest of the structure will fall. Novels need structure in order to come alive. Why do I say that? Because with structure, you don’t just babble on and can easily lose the reader.

As I’ve said before, a novel needs a beginning, a middle and an ending. And in each section you need to start with a rise in action, then reach the climax, but come back down into the next section without losing your reader. Stay focused on the story, don’t add a lot of fluff that will make your reader lose interest.

This is where plotting helps me. I write down the scenes and then I make sure there is enough to the scene to make it work. It needs to be able to stand on it’s own and shine. If the scene falls flat, then the story will too.

So, try plotting and see where it goes. Not everyone is a plotter. Some are pantser’s which is fine. Just make sure your writing flows.

I’ll post a plot outline in my next post.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…