Tag: Twitter

Getting the word out!

Ok, it’s Monday, are you ready for the work week? Me, not so much, but got to get moving. I’ve been asked so much lately about my advertising strategy that I’m writing the post to get the word out. So here goes:

When I first started publishing my books, I had no clue about marketing my book. Four years later I’m starting to get the hang of it. I even have a website where authors can advertise their books for a minimal fee and I use what I’ve learned on that site.

This is what I’ve learned that works, it really works:

1: Use a service such as Hootsuite to make many posts, even while you’re sleeping. I especially like to use this service when I have a new release coming out soon. I usually set up several posts and have them go through my WordPress, Twitter, and Facebook pages. I do different posts for each time slot, that way I’m not overusing the same thing.

2: Twitter is a really cool marketing tool. I actually see a bump in sales when I do Tweets during the day. Make sure to be creative with the 140 characters. I use my buy link and a savvy, short piece from the book. It really works people, but you have to actually do it for it to work 😉

3: Facebook Ads: This I love and see lots of results. Facebook has made it easier to set up. One thing I love about this is you don’t inundate your friends and family with book ads. These ads go to where you want them too and go to people that aren’t friends on Facebook. I’ve gained many new fans from a simple Facebook ad. You can set up any price you want to and even the length of time you run the ad is up to you.

4: Website: Every author needs a website. There are so many places you can set up a website now, it’s amazing. but if you don’t want to go to all the trouble of setting up a professional author website, then get in touch with me, my company Horseshoe Publishing does this.

5: Blogs: This is very important to authors. It gives you the chance to talk about anything, but I suggest leaving off political topics, only for the reason of making someone angry. Blog about your life giving readers a look at what you do other than writing. It’s amazing the response you’ll get.

So, these are only a part of my marketing agenda, but I’m short on my word count this morning, so I have to get back to writing. My assistant gives me the evil eye if I get too far behind on my schedule.

One last reminder before I go, if you don’t have the time or drive to do any of these and want help, check out my new advertising site www.freshfromthebook.com and for a minimal fee, we’ll get the word out for you.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

 

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And the Winner is…

Winner

It’s time to announce the winner of my “A Light Upon My Heart” cover reveal contest. But first, I want to thank all of you lovely Bloggers, Tweeters, and Facebookers for all the wonderful shares and likes. It was a phenomenal reveal, but only because of all of you.

Of course, I can only choose one, so, drum roll………. the winner is Sara Beth Williams from over at https://authorswilliams.wordpress.com/. Congratulations Sara! Thanks for the shares! If you will email me at stephaniehurt4@gmail.com and give me your address, I’ll mail you a copy of the book as soon as it’s released.

But don’t worry, I have several contests coming up. Just keep watching. Also, I’ll be doing a backstock clearance sale in the next couple of weeks, so don’t miss an episode of my writing blog. Can I call it an episode? I don’t know, but it sounds good 😉

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Ebook piracy is real and growing…

Good Wednesday morning! Hope all of you are well and safe. I know several people in the flood ravaged south and I hope all of you are safe this morning. As I watch the news its devastating and tears at my heart. Prayers going up to all of you in the danger zones.

This morning I want to discuss Ebook piracy. When I started my writing career I was a little leery of putting my book on websites that I wasn’t familiar with. I’d spend hours checking out their ratings and BBB information before I’d even set up an account with them. We want to keep our work safe from those that want to take advantage, but what can we do in this day and age of cyber piracy? Nothing, not a thing…

I noticed about a year ago that when I googled my name, several websites came up that I didn’t recognize. Of course I checked them out and some of them are legitimate because they are distributors from Createspace that legally sell my book and I reap the royalties. But unfortunately a couple were actually pirating my books for free on their sites. A month ago I was searching out my books and found that the number of websites that my books are showing up on have more than doubled.

Of course it got me a little hot under the collar until a well known author told me something that hadn’t really hit me. She told me that it’s like free advertising. The word pirates as I call them were actually doing free promotions for my work. I still don’t like the fact that they steal your work and place it everywhere for free, but in a way it is getting my work out there. She also went as far as to tell me I should be proud that they picked my work to steal because that meant they evidently thought it would help them. Never thought of it that way either.

My question to several authors was how do you stop them, but all of them came back with the same response, you don’t. The websites change constantly and have crazy names. I keep a watch on it though because I don’t want someone else to list their name as the author of my work. Now that will spur me into action, but for now I’m just watching it.

I suggest if you’re a published author to keep an eye on your work. Do a cyber search frequently on your author name, book name and website. It’s just a precautionary measure, but it could save your work.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

P.S. Oakley is coming out by the end of next weeks!!! I’ll be posting updates by the end of the week. So go over to my website at www.stephaniehurtauthor.com and subscribe to my newsletter to get updates on new releases or exciting news. Or go over to Facebook and like my author page to stay up to date at https://www.facebook.com/StephaniePayneHurt. If  you’re a Twitter lover then check out my tweets at https://twitter.com/StephanieHurt4.

Promote or not to promote…that’s the question!

Good morning! I do hope all of you are staying warm. As for me I’m sitting beside the fire wrapped in a blanket. It’s only 12 degrees here in my part of Georgia which is not funny for this southern girl. It’s a beautiful day outside from the bright sunshine, but then you step outside and it hits you like a ice wall. Not even going there!

On to my post for the day… How do you promote your book? Or do you even do any promoting? For me I do promote when I can. Some authors say that they can’t afford to do a lot of promoting, but I have some good news. You can do some really good promotions for free. Yes I said FREE!

Here are some of my favorite free promotional places:

1: You are looking at the first place. Your blog is an excellent place to promote your book. But be careful, don’t overdo it. Sprinkle in promotional posts here and there, but make sure to keep it light. I’ve seen some really good results from it. You can set up a blog for free and make sure to assign a page for your books within your blog setup.

2: Twitter is an excellent place to promote, but as I’ve said above don’t overdo it. I tried an experiment with Twitter and it went really well. A couple of days I didn’t post anything about my books and my sales were normal, but then for a couple of days I sprinkled in some tweets directly from my book pages on Amazon, Smashwords and some of my other book pages. It helped my sales. I actually sold extra books on those days and the trend went that way for days afterwords and then back down to normal. If you spread out your book tweets to several hours apart and use hash tags such as #amwriting #amreading and #ebooks you’ll see some great results.

3: Facebook is another great place. As with any other promotions don’t overdo it. Make sure you have a separate page for your books because your friends my not enjoy seeing your posts repeatedly. I have a couple of different pages for my books and series. That way it keeps them sparse. Make it interesting…

4: Do a press release. I use PRlog.com and it’s really easy to set up. When I have a new release I set up a powerful press release with tags, then you can share it almost anywhere straight from the release page.

5: Your website. You may be saying ‘but you have to pay for a website’. Well actually there are several free places to set up websites, but keep in mind these free websites can be limited. They are still a great place to tag your books.

These are only 5 of the many free sites where you can promote your book. I hope these help out. My publishing service Horseshoe Publishing can help you for minimal costs to set up any of the above options. But if you’re computer savvy then you should be able to do these fairly well.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Changes make all the difference…

Yep, I’m doing a happy dance this morning. With All My Heart (Revised Edition) Is doing really well on Amazon. 

You may be wondering what I did as far as changes. Well, I did a couple of things to change this book from the original edition.

Here are the changes I made:

1: I updated the cover. The original cover was awesome, but as one author explained to me, if you change the manuscript and republish you have to change the cover.

2: I went in and changed the voice slightly in this edition. I also added a couple of elements that made the story flow better.

3: I changed the categories that the book was put into. Amazingly enough, as the numbers above tell the tale, it worked.

I’m in the process of revisiting a couple of my older published books. As my writing becomes more refined and I learn new techniques it causes me to think of my earlier works. Now when I go back over them I smile. Things have changed with my writing voice and I have to make sure that all my work changes with me.

So if you have older works that maybe need a facelift, then go for it. It’s been an awesome thing for With All My Heart. Of course this book has done well in the past, but the numbers from just the last two days have been, let’s just say, awesome!

I also want to thank my Twitter friends that took over the post from the other day regarding the republishing. They spread it like wildfire over the Twittersphere and I’m humbled by their wonderful comments and promotions. It’s amazing the support I’ve received from so many, so thanks to you from the bottom of heart 🙂

As always, good writing and May God Bless You… 

 

Monday Morning Writing

Well it’s Monday again! Were you ready for it? Me, well not so much, but it’s a fact that it comes every week. Some Mondays I do better than others. This morning is cloudy and dreary yet again and I’m sleepy, but work beckons and it’s the start of my busy season. The reason for my grogy ramblings is I sat up way too late last night writing. I guess you could say it’s a writers lot to be sleepy and have blood shot eyes on Monday morning.

I couldn’t pull myself away from the current WIP. It’s funny how a story gets under your skin and you just have to get past a certain point before you pull away. I know other writers know this feeling. You know the point where you can stop but until you get to that point you don’t have the courage to stop. Does this sound obsessive, well maybe so? Writers are often carried away into obsession and that’s what makes a good writer.

Someone once asked me where all my stories come from. They often laugh and say that I must lead a very colorful life to bring about so many stories with vibrancy and life. I live my life just as anyone, well I guess that’s true. A writer’s mind goes beyond that of someone that doesn’t have writing in them. I can look at the simplest object and spin a story around it. A writer’s mind is constantly working on over load. Sometimes I think my mind actually spins around like a top.

As for the unfinished manuscript I found the other day, well I’ve been spinning this one in my head, but I’ve put it to the wayside. I remember somewhat the path I was headed in with it, but it just doesn’t feel right at the moment. For me, and I’ve talked to other writers about this, if the story is not with you, it’s best to put it down and come back a little later. Unfortunately that happens in series too. You finish book one or two and when you start the next part and it totally goes out of the realm.

So, how’s your Monday going? As for me I’d love to get some love over at Twitter or Facebook. Come by and follow me on either one. I’m trying to get over the Twitter hump per say. Also, I’d love to have some likes or follows on Facebook. Let’s put our heads together and have a follow Monday.

Here’s my links:

Facebook Author page: https://www.facebook.com/StephaniePayneHurt?ref=hl

Facebook personal page: https://www.facebook.com/stephanie.hurt.330

Twitter: https://twitter.com/StephanieHurt4

As always, good writing and May God Bless you…

Weekend on my mind…

At 4pm today I start my vacation. I’ve been so excited. Had planned a trip to Florida, but anyone that’s been watching the weather reports know why this has been cancelled. It’s going to be a writing vacation and a social media vacation. 

I’ve entered my newest work in the So You Think You Can Write contest on Harlequin’s site. I’m really excited about this contest. The fun thing is the manuscript is not completely finished. Yikes, this means I’ve got to spend a lot of time finishing it up. I have it completed in my head, but unfortunately I can’t print directly from my brain. So, I’m taking a social media vacation to keep down distractions. I’m not going to check my sites or post on them for a couple of days, but I’ll be back up and running at full speed next week.

Do you have weekend plans? For me I’m planning a restful, writing excursion. Not sure where it might take me, but my laptop will be attached to my fingers. If you get a chance go over to this link: http://www.soyouthinkyoucanwrite.com/manuscripts-sytycw-2013/finding-the-right-time/ and read my first chapter submission. If you feel inspired write a comment and forward it on Facebook and Twitter. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend and I’ll be back on here when I come out on the other side of this writing frenzy. I just hope I can stay away from my social media sites and book sites. 

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Social Media and writing…

I was a little leary about starting a lot of social media accounts. Then when I started publishing my books it was a must. My editor/assistant got me started with a blog, then came Twitter and after much anxiousness Facebook. I’ve never been one to push myself in anywhere. 

Of course now I get up, drink a cup of coffee and look at all my many sites. It’s funny how many I have now. What’s really funny is when I tweet or send out my book links on any of my sites, the sales go up. What would happen if you didn’t do social media in today’s world? Would you sell a book? If you’re in book stores and various chain stores you would do alright, but people rely on social media and the internet to find books. It’s just part of life.

Make sure you keep your sites updated. Keep the posts going and don’t do anything that you don’t want the whole world to see. So go by and check out my sites. I have links on this page…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Who wants a free audio book?

Audible has given me 5 links to get free copies of my audible book “The Winner Is Love”. So, what else would I do but give them away. But how to do this. Well, I think I know a way. It could get tricky but let’s see who’s game.

The first 5 people to play this game all the way through get the code to unlock their free audion book. 

Here we go:

1: Go to Amazon and look up “The Winner Is Love”, take a close look at the cover and tell me what object the couple are encased in.

2: Direct message me on Twitter the answer to #1.

3: Go to my Facebook page and look on my main page. In the header I have all my book covers lined up. What is the 3rd book from the left on the top row? Direct message me on my Facebook page.

4: When you have completed this challenge come back here and comment that you’re done. I will announce the winner in a post tomorrow. That is if anyone is up to the challenge.

5: Have a great night.

Good luck and have fun rummaging through my pages.

Good writing and May God Bless You…