Maria Grace Though Maria Grace has been writing fiction since she was ten years old, those early efforts happily reside in a file drawer and are unlikely to see the light of day again, for which many are grateful. After penning five file-drawer novels in high school, she took a break from writing to pursue college and earn her doctorate in Educational Psychology. After 16 years of university teaching, she returned to her first love, fiction writing. She has one husband and one grandson, two graduate degrees and two black belts, three sons, four undergraduate majors, five nieces, is starting her sixth year blogging on Random Bits of Fascination, has built seven websites, attended eight English country dance balls, sewn nine Regency era costumes, and shared her life with ten cats. We are so fortunate to have the very gifted writer Maria Grace (4 X B.R.A.G.Medallion Honoree author!) join us today to share some thoughts and information about her very successful blog. Marie, I love your website! I am a fan of your books and always look forward to posts and info you share on your site. There are so many different types of websites from authors- some…
Some “New” ideas for Social Media
FOCUS ON WHAT REALLY MATTERS AND LEAVE THE ALGORITHMS TO OTHERS!
How To (Really) Sell Your Novel – The Shocking Truth
Re posted with permission of John YeomanOriginally posted on The Wicked Writing BlogFriday, April 5, 2013 Under: Libels & Wickedness How do you sell a novel? That's the number one problem for every self-publishing author and it probably accounts for all the other numbers too. Unless your novel sells, you may well be a writer but you're not a novelist. Here are four ways that don't work. 1. Banner ads don't work. Many sites will sell you a banner, in a choice of sizes, to promote your book and each at a fancy price. None will yield a profit. You might not even get a single click-through. Why? The average click-through rate for banner ads is just three tenths of one per cent or 0.3%. That's the industry average according to imedia connections.com. So only three in 1000 people who see your banner ad will click on it. And only about 4% of those people will buy your book. (That's the average conversion-to-sale ratio at Amazon.) So you'll make just one sale for every 10,000 people who see your banner. How much will you be charged for that banner? Anything between $100 and $1000. Result: you'll lose your shirt.…
A conversation with Bestselling Author Colleen Hoover
COLLEEN HOOVER Colleen lives in Texas with her husband and their three boys. She released her debut novel, SLAMMED, in January 2012 and the follow-up novel, POINT OF RETREAT, in February, 2012. Both books have been optioned for film as of October, 2012. Her bestselling Romance novel Hopeless has been on the New York Times E-Book Best Sellers list for 20 weeks! indieBRAG: Thank you, Colleen, for spending this time with us. Colleen Hoover: Thank you so much for having me. iB: You have written three very successful books in the Romance genre. I wonder if an author sets out to write in a specific genre or do they just write the book that is in them? In your case, did you choose the genre first and then create the book, or was the story already in your mind and it just happened to fit that genre? CH: When I began writing SLAMMED, I didn't even think about where it might fit if I tried to sell it. I wrote the book thinking I was going to be the only one to read it besides a few family members. Once the book was complete and I decided to upload it…
Bob Mayer, bestselling author, talks audio books-
Bob Mayer is a West Point Graduate, Former Green Beret, CEO of Cool Gus Publishing and a NY Times Bestselling Author. He has had over 50 books published. He has sold over four million books, and is in demand as a team-building, life-changing, and leadership speaker and consultant for his Who Dares Wins: The Green Beret Way concept, which he translated into Write It Forward: a holistic program teaching writers how to be authors. He is also the Co-Creator of Cool Gus Publishing, which does both eBooks and Print On Demand, so he has experience in both traditional and non-traditional publishing. Thank you so much Bob for giving us some of your experience and wisdom on audio books. The latest sales figures tell us that ebooks significantly out number print books and that the latest trend is to have audio books. You have stated that this has been quite successful for you. We really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us and answer some questions. 1. Why do an audio book? It can be rather costly.I use the ACX program, which is a really well run system. I've invested over $50,000 in producing 30 audio books…
Book Trailers- are they worth it?
I have read a lot about book trailers, and I have watched my share of them, and here is my final thought on whether they are worth it – I don't know! There seems to be little evidence that book trailers help sell books. I enjoyed watching some of them and a few actually got me interested in taking a look at the book. However, in general, most looked amateurish; they were just a slideshow with music. They were more helpful if I went to the book's website first and then watched the video. In other words, they did not grab my attention on their own; rather they simply added to my overall interest in the book. But the point is I'm not sure they would encourage me to actually buy the book. Obviously, I am biased but I do enjoy being able to click on a book trailer when I go to one of our B.R.A.G.MedallionTM Honoree detail pages. But, there again, I have already sought the book out and I know it is well worth the investment of my time and money. So here is what I think- A book trailer is a nice enhancement to all the…
A chat with best selling author Addison Moore
Addison Moore is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who writes contemporary and paranormal romance. Previously she worked as a therapist on a locked psychiatric unit for nearly a decade. She resides on the West Coast with her husband, four wonderful children, and two dogs where she eats too much chocolate and stays up way too late. When she's not writing, she's reading. Addison's Celestra Series has been optioned for film by 20th Century Fox. Thanks you so much Addison for sharing your thoughts and experiences on self-publishing with us. It is encouraging to us all to see wonderful self-published authors, such as you, get the attention they deserve!I am sure the readers and authors at indieBRAG will appreciate your input- First of all, why did you self-publish? Did you try to get a traditional publishing deal?I started self-publishing in 2011, ironically after I procured my dream agent. I was deterred by how long it would take to get a traditional book into the market and I wanted to write more than a book a year. Did you use professional help for story or copy editing, cover design or in other ways?My husband and I…
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Most Shared Posts
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- Grab a cup of tea, homemade raisin bread and a Mystery perfect for Valentine's Day!
- Drift away to Montreal in the 1950's and enjoy a French delight!
- Spend the day with Lavender Fantasy!
- Yummy Spinach-Cheese Pockets - without all the trauma Mirra had to go through!
- Can you imagine anything better than a good mystery and sweet rolls?
- A Proper English Lunch and a Great Mystery!
- A Great Thriller and Apple Tarts - Oh My!
- IT’S YOUR BOOK LAUNCH…PARTY IF YOU WANT TO
- More Thoughts on the Newsletter Rage-
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- Another Tasty Idea and a Great Book!
- It’s a Tough Market for Authors
- A Thriller & a Burger (Vegan) - Perfect!
- Author Janie Dempsey Watts- In Praise of indieBRAG!
- Author victoria Thurman - In Praise of indieBRAG!
- A Wonderful Book, A Lovely Playground and a Snack- what could be more Fun!
- Make a Cosmo, put up your feet and enjoy Been Searching for You!
- Helen Hollick visits with Dr. Daniel M. Walker
Most Discussed Posts
- Sharing a wonderful romance book with friends - and a yummy Peach Cobbler!
- Grab a cup of tea, homemade raisin bread and a Mystery perfect for Valentine's Day!
- Drift away to Montreal in the 1950's and enjoy a French delight!
- Spend the day with Lavender Fantasy!
- Yummy Spinach-Cheese Pockets - without all the trauma Mirra had to go through!
- Can you imagine anything better than a good mystery and sweet rolls?
- A Proper English Lunch and a Great Mystery!
- A Great Thriller and Apple Tarts - Oh My!
- IT’S YOUR BOOK LAUNCH…PARTY IF YOU WANT TO
- More Thoughts on the Newsletter Rage-
- Author Newsletter vs. Author Blog: Five Reasons I Prefer a Blog, and Six Reasons You Might Not
- Another Tasty Idea and a Great Book!
- It’s a Tough Market for Authors
- A Thriller & a Burger (Vegan) - Perfect!
- Author Janie Dempsey Watts- In Praise of indieBRAG!
- Author victoria Thurman - In Praise of indieBRAG!
- A Wonderful Book, A Lovely Playground and a Snack- what could be more Fun!
- Make a Cosmo, put up your feet and enjoy Been Searching for You!
- Helen Hollick visits with Dr. Daniel M. Walker
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