Post Thanksgiving.

Hello everyone, I hope y'all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Of course, everyone probably at way too much like I did. A friend of mine told me that because it was Thanksgiving, everything eaten was good for you, including pie. I liked the sound of that. Anyway, back to the daily grind. Just a friendly reminder, Christmas is just around the corner. Till next time.

Market Your Writing and Yourself Before You Are Published

Twitter

If you don’t have a Twitter account, get one. Social media is an essential part of marketing your writing. Start following readers and writers in a similar genre. You can search on Twitter just like you do on Google for mystery writers, crime fiction, romance book lovers, etc. Spend a few minutes every day searching and following other tweeps that are loosely related to what you are writing.  If you are trying to attract readers, authors and book bloggers to your Twitter make sure you are tweeting things about your genre. Tweet about great new books you’ve read and where you are on your writing journey. Retweet other authors, bloggers and readers when they have promotions or exciting news. Trust me, we appreciate it, take notice and follow you back.

It takes time to build up a Twitter account and the more targeted followers you have the better your book launch will be. There are some shortcuts if you have a marketing budget. Twiends.com connects people with similar interests for a small fee. Twiends has a seed currency. When you follow someone, you get seeds and can offer those seeds to people to follow you. You can also shortcut that process by just buying a package of seeds. The beauty of Twiends is that you can identify your interests and ask for matches that are similar.

Facebook

Some people like to keep their Facebook private and personal but there is really no advantage to an author who is seeking readership to have a closed loop. Facebook is one of the best places for an author to network before their book is published. You can start to build relationships with other writers and book bloggers for cross-promotional purposes later on. Reader groups are plentiful on Facebook. Friend other writers on Facebook and watch where the pros are posting their book updates. What are the best Facebook groups for YA or Mystery/Thriller fiction? Start joining and commenting in these groups as a reader and a writer. It really helps to just get your name out there. When you launch your book, they will already know you and be more inclined to buy it.

The value of setting up Twitter and Facebook long before you launch your book is two-fold. One, you have a ready market for your book which can number in the thousands if you work hard to get followers. Two, it’s one less thing you have to set up when you launch your book, which can be a very busy and overwhelming process for a new author. The good news is, it just gets easier from there.

I’ve had readers contact me on Twitter and Facebook to tell me they’ve bought my books or liked my books so much they retweeted or shared one of my posts to their own social network. Social media marketing really does work and you can lay the groundwork before you even publish your first book.

Connie Brentford is a freelance writer and the author of the Amazon bestselling book The Moonlighter’s Guide To Online Writing For Immediate Income. Visit her website: www.TheMoonlightersGuide.com and follow her on Twitter @conniebrentford.

Thanks

This week is Thanksgiving week and I would like to take this time to thank everyone who has helped me get to where I am today. I would have never guessed that I would be so close to publishing my first book. I also never dreamed it would take so much work either. I would like to especially thank my publicist, Michelle Carpenter from Media Guests. She has helped me in so many ways. Thank you my friend. Thanks goes out to my wonderful wife, Elizabeth. Thank you for standing by me as we go through this process. And thank you to all my friends and family, you know who you are. The next guest blog is from Connie Brentford and it is on the writing and publishing business. Happy ThanksGiving to all. Till Next Time.

The Heart of a Writer (Guest posted by Ray Ellis)

Whether it is The Yellow Brick Road or The Chisholm Trail, we all need a path to get us along on our way. As I think back to my beginnings as a writer, sitting in a darkened guard station working the midnight shift, I remember feeling like Dorothy as she spun in a circle at the beginning of the yellow brick road in the center of the Munchkin city.

Well these many years later I feel like I’ve finally reached part of my goal. But, like Dorothy, with each goal met and companion I’ve picked up along the road, I have also found new challenges. The first thing I realized I needed was a brain. I needed to know what it meant be and what the mechanics of writing were. So, I learned. Re-write after re-write after re-write and step by step, until I finally got a finished manuscript. After this came the marketing and trying to sale myself as a writer.

The question I had to ask myself was did I have the heart to put up with the rejection and denial that is an inevitable part of this journey. When you finish your masterpiece, it can be scary to put your work out there where other “less enlightened” people will sit in judgment on it. You’ll have to somehow toughen your heart while maintaining the tenderness of your soul that enables you to create.
Now the last step is the development of your courage. Do you have what it takes to fight through the boredom and the isolation and loneliness, except for your characters, that is part of the writing process? Can you set yourself on a schedule and then keep that schedule while others are watching TV or going out or perhaps even going to bed. Will you have the courage to force yourself to achieve?

So there you have it, the key to achieving your dream. Add to your journey brains, and the heart to dream; and finally the courage to endure. Then work your plan and above all else, don’t ever give up on your dream.

Ray Ellis is the author of the Nate Richards mystery series. The first book, N.H.I.(No Humans Involved) has been on ebook since March of this year and has just been released in paperback. The second book in the series, D.R.T.(Dead Right There) was released in mid-October to huge success. The third book in the series is expected in early 2012. All Ray’s books can be purchased on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

http://authorray.blogspot.com/
http://urbanfictionunleashed.webstarts.com/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1201273463
Twitter@RayEllisNHI

Suprised about some stats

I went to church today and heard some very scary stats. More and more students are doing drugs in ever imaginative ways. Even in the small town I am from, drug use in schools are on the rise. There were some busts in a neighboring town at a smoke shop. The "New drug" they are calling Potpourri. They are also doing the choking game as early as elementary school, which is really scary. They are learning it from their older siblings and their friends. All the parents need to take an active roll in their children's lives. Just a little something I learned today. Till next time.

Kerry 

Blog Newbie

Greetings everyone. I hope everyone had a great weekend. I have been trying to get my blog going. I am going to be having some guest posts in the near future. I will let y'all know when. I had a relaxing weekend which is nice now and again. Sorry for the short post for now. More to come.

Kerry

WOW!!!! I actually won something.....BIG

Greetings again everyone. I just as to tell everyone that I found out yesterday that I was one of the winners of a conversion eBook package from Sabre-eBook.com. This means when I am ready to have my book converted to an eBook version. I wont have to pay to have it done. That is going to save me big time. I am very excited. Till next time.

Kerry

Greetings and Salutations

Greetings everyone. My name is Kerry Fowers and I am an upcoming author. I am writing a book and its in the editing process right now. I am originally from a small town in northern Utah called Hooper. For those who don't know where that is, its southwest of Ogden. I am now living in Heber City with my wife, Elizabeth. Heber is another small town, in the mountains of eastern Utah. I hope everyone will take a minute to get to know me and I will update y'all about the process of my book as it continues.  Thank you for following me. More posts to come. Please forgive me, I am kinda new at this.

Kerry