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An Irish Tale and Guinness Chili- ready for St. patrick’s Day!

Geri Clouston
Secrets of the Apple Tree Tavern: The Making of an Irish Godfather (Irish Fires Book 1) by Mary Ellen Gavin   In The Secrets of the Apple Tree Tavern, Mary Ellen Gavin writes movingly and deeply about the Irish in New York and in Dublin. Raised in an Irish family, she shared, “The joys and sorrows of family are taught to the Irish from birth. All good and all bad can only come from your Family. A brother who succeeds in life is your joy ... a sister who births a sickly baby is your sorrow. The Irish build strong family ties and know how to wield guilt. It is the way I was raised. I thrived from it and I cried from it ... more than some other families.” Life is seen through the eyes of Frances Fleming, an orphan of Irish immigrants during the Depression, then adopted by a tavern owner. Like the author, family becomes extremely important to him.  At a young age, he is put to work, gladly on his part for his new “family.”  His childhood is happy and his years filled with stories of Ireland and the “old ways.” So many of us are enchanted…

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, Bloggers, Book Marketing, Food for Thought, Foodie Lit, indieBRAG, Readers Thoughts!, The B.R.A.G.Medallion, The Self-publishing World, Uncategorized

Promo Stacking- what is it, and how do I do it?

Geri Clouston
Promo Stacking For indie Authors Ricci Wolman Written Word Media Ricci Wolman of Written Word Media gave a great presentation on Promo Stacking at the 2018 Book Baby Conference in Philadelphia. Although the idea seems obvious, I think most of us don't take the time to do it correctly.  We all know that we must do some book promotion - they don't usually do themselves!  But how and when is the most effective and economical way to do it. What is Promo Stacking? It is running multiple coordinated marketing campaigns Within a set time frame With the goal of increasing the sales and rank of a specific title or series. Why do Amazon algorithms matter? Working with amazon is essential!  Amazon is about to hit a new milestone capturing 50% of the retail ecommerce in the United States, dwarfing all other sellers. Amazon uses sales rank to support search placement, getting your book into a visible placement will increase sales- so sales increase sales! We’ve all noticed the bar below books saying “Customers who bought this item also bought…” Well, getting your books listed will involve the Amazon Algorithm recognizing your book. Why do book promotions You want to feed…

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, Bloggers, Book Marketing, indieBRAG, Marketing an indie Book, The B.R.A.G.Medallion, The Self-publishing World, Words of Wisdom ,

Record Your Own Audiobook for Audible

Geri Clouston
Should you do an audiobook? This was probably the most often asked question at the Book Baby Independent Author Conference 2018 held in Philadelphia the first weekend in November and the answer is "YES"! Audio books (although not actually new) are the "new" big thing.  Just as, not that many years ago, when ebooks hit the publishing world and exploded, the market for audiobooks is now exploding and it seems it is time to jump in. Two time B.R.A.G.Medallion author, Travis Bow has shared the "how to" of doing an audiobook! "It doesn't take a studio or an audio engineering degree to record your own audiobook and sell it on Audible. With a $130 microphone, some free software, and a little persistence, you can make top-notch audio, and Audible's Audiobook Creation Exchange interface makes it super straightforward to get your book on sale on the largest Audiobook platform in the world. Having gone through this process three times with my books Thane and King's Table and my short story The Three, I've had to glean information from dozens of partial (often conflicting) tutorials, and I've discovered a lot by trial and error. This is my attempt to put it all together in a step-by-step guide that anyone…

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, Bloggers, Book Marketing, indieBRAG, Marketing an indie Book, The B.R.A.G.Medallion, The Self-publishing World, Uncategorized

An Author’s thoughts on the Independent Author Conference 2018

Geri Clouston
I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when I registered for BookBaby’s Independent Author Conference. I had attended author conferences before, but not this one, and not one sponsored by a company I had analyzed and ultimately decided not to utilize when I first started publishing back in 2012. Would it be a valuable investment? A networking event with ancillary educational sessions? Or a weekend of advertisements disguised as a conference? The latter, of course, would not have been a wise use of my limited business funds, and this was what scared me the most about this venture. As a small business owner (a.k.a. Indie Author), I hate wasting money. Almost as much as I hate getting a “hard sell.” Fortunately, I didn’t have to answer “yes” to the last question and the attending vendors offered value. Ultimately, the Indie Author Conference turned out to be a mix of events and skill levels, and worth my time. While many of those attending (or at least those I met) were at the beginning stages of their publishing careers, I made a handful of connections with authors who were not new, like me, but who also didn’t quite have a handle on…

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award winning books, Bloggers, Book Marketing, Editing, In Praise of indieBRAG, indieBRAG, Marketing an indie Book, The B.R.A.G.Medallion, The Self-publishing World, Uncategorized

Independent Authors Conference (IAC18)

Geri Clouston
What we learned: The Beginning (after you write a great book!) Philadelphia 2018   The cover, the title and the blurb are equally as important as a great story if you hope to make sales. Let’s think about your Amazon book page- The cover- needs to be eye-catching AND tell your story. The title- needs to say something about your story The blurb- needs to sell your book! How to do that?  The best advice one of the speakers had was to spend hours looking and reading blurbs from other books in your genre that are selling well.  Of course, you don’t want to “copy”, but best sellers get attention for a reason.  If you have an agent, they are going to tell you to find comps and this means finding books that are similar to your book and see what they are doing. The blurb should be a bit dramatic. Many authors use over the top words because they get attention.  “Deadly”, “Terrifying”, “Race against time”.- are attention grabbers. Many mention the name of the main character and another successful trick is to end with a question:  “Can Meghan run and hide from the devil himself?” Sub-genre mentions also…

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, Bloggers, Book Marketing, indieBRAG, The B.R.A.G.Medallion, The Self-publishing World, Uncategorized

In Praise of indieBRAG – S. R. Zales

Geri Clouston
  Hello indieBRAG, In 2013 I was awarded a Gold Medallion by Indie B.R.A.G. for my Juvenile Book "Jenny and the Hummingbird Faeries". First off I cannot thank your group enough for the honor.  I did receive some Medallions and used them on the books I sold. I wanted to let you know that they were a great asset in selling by book. The book has continued to sell in the hundreds and I believe you were instrumental in making that happen. I have a number of venues coming up in the next several weeks and months where I will be selling even more books. The problem is that I have used all, yes all, the Gold Medallions and am desperately asking to purchase from you 200 more. Is that possible? It would be a marvelous if you could send them as soon as you can. Thank you  in advance. Keep up the tremendous work you all have been doing. S.R. Zales Jenny and the Hummingbird Faeries Find this award winning book HERE Author S. R. Zales https://www.srzales.com/

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, Book Marketing, Book Spotlight, In Praise of indieBRAG, indieBRAG, The B.R.A.G.Medallion ,

Advice from Steena Holmes “Branding with Intent”

Geri Clouston
Writers: Don’t Give In To The Pressure By Steena Holmes on Apr 05, 2018 02:23 pm If you are a writer, raise your hand if you feel the pressure to rush your process and just get those books out. (my hand is raised and I know yours are too!) There are so many factors to this rush: bills are piling up so many of your writing friends are releasing books in quick succession you keep hearing this is the only way to get noticed (ie. 90 day window) any other number of reasons to feel like you’re missing out Can I say something that might be against the norm? Stop. Slow down. Don’t panic. I know, I know, easy enough to say, but hard to accomplish, right? I’ve been there, in your shoes when I saw my income going down and my bills piling up. When I would hear of others talk about their numbers and stepped back so no one would notice me and ask how I was doing. When I would visit different FB writing groups and the advice was to write/publish/repeat as fast as you can in order to increase your visibility. Every time I would hear…

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Authors' Chat, Book Marketing, indieBRAG, Marketing an indie Book, Steena Holmes, The Self-publishing World, Uncategorized , , ,

Lunch with Madame Presidentess.

Geri Clouston
Foodie Lit Definition: a genre  of novels and memoirs filled with stories and recipes A more open community around the table Madame Presidentess by Nicole Evalina The first woman running for president is a tale filled with intrigue, scandal, enemies and lurid newspaper accounts, sexual innuendoes, financial scandals and marital woes.  Biographical accounts are often brutal and vindictive. You might think I am writing about Hillary Clinton but she in fact was not the first woman to run for President. Victoria Woodhull ran for the office in 1872 on the Equal Rights Party, supporting women’s and workers rights.  Writing about her run for president, Woodhull noted, “The truth is that I am too many years ahead of this age…and the unenlightened mind of the average man.” Nicole Evalina brings us a vivid portrait of Woodhull in her historical novel. She told me, “My portrayal of her comes from how I think she saw herself… I think she believed the ends justified the means.” A constant headline maker in her own time, because of later conflicts with suffragettes, Woodhull became a footnote, mostly written out of their accounts of the decades’ efforts to gain the right to vote for women. Yet…

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, Book Marketing, Food for Thought, indieBRAG, Readers Thoughts!, The B.R.A.G.Medallion, The Self-publishing World , , , , ,

In Praise of indieBRAG by author Pamela B. Eglinski

Geri Clouston
" Let me say once again that indieBRAG is a dream to work with.  You are head and shoulders above most every other social media site.  I'm so pleased to work with you, and you never seem annoyed with my questions and requests! Pam Eglinski                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              The Can-Can Girl Find out more about Pamela B. Eglinski

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Authors' Chat, Book Marketing, Book Spotlight, In Praise of indieBRAG, The B.R.A.G.Medallion, The Self-publishing World, Uncategorized , ,

In Praise of indieBRAG by author Glen Craney

Geri Clouston
"I learned about indieBRAG from fellow historical fiction authors who are members of  Facebook groups.  With the emergence of POD and digital publishing, the good news is anyone can now publish a book; the bad news is anyone can now publish a book!  The greates challenge indie authors confront is the stigma of inferiority caused by books rushed into the market without professional design and editing.  indieBRAG offers an invaluable vetting service to readers who might otherwise she awar from indies.  With the rapid changes in the industry, i'm confident the walls between indie and traditional publishing will continue to crumble." Find our more about Glen Craney, multiple B.R.A.G.Medallion Honoree author

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Authors' Chat, award winning books, Book Marketing, Book Spotlight, In Praise of indieBRAG, The B.R.A.G.Medallion, The Self-publishing World, Uncategorized , ,

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