Friday, February 22, 2013

Publishing and Promoting Tips from C.M. Brown and Alex J. Cavanaugh's CassaStorm

Today tour stop is a tour swap! I am visiting C.M. Brown, talking about the timing of your book release, and she’s here with some publishing and promoting tips.

Hi Dianne, and thank you for hosting me today on your site to discuss publishing and promoting tips.

Well, to begin with I decided to publish my books the indie way after participating in a seminar at my local council library. The Australian government funded a local author/artist Judy Barrass. (to encourage new writers to publish their work using available options on the internet)

I researched into the information I left with, excited and determined and eventually decided to use Smashwords as my publishing platform. I still use their site, but also download my books at Amazon.

To create hard copies, I decided to use LULU, they have connections to Amazon and I found that downloading to all of the above platforms was quite easy, but made sure I followed the instructions provided at each site precisely.

But, I would suggest new authors read the guidelines of these sites and think about what suits them best and before deciding to publish ensure that you have given your work to a few critique partners to ensure your product is the best it can be. It is extremely important to try a few different beta readers and CP’s to find your right matches. Follow the advice you are given without taking offence and decide how their suggestions would improve your overall story.

Once you have tightened up your working story you must ensure the formatting of your product is spot on. It is essential that your formatting is perfect. You do need to spend the time and follow the ‘How to Publish’ guides at each site. Be sure that images are saved in the right file format and they are of an appropriate file size.

After your work is accepted to the platforms of your choice, it is time to market your product!

This can be the hard part.

When I published my first book I did not have a blogging account nor had I made any connections with anyone on the internet involved in the literary world. I decided to open a blogging account and luckily worked out how to blog.

I found my way around more by perseverance and luck than anything else.

By joining the various blog hops and connecting with other authors, I learned that I needed to give as well as take, as in all things in life. By giving others the opportunity to spotlight their work, I found friends and made connections with other authors.

By spending a lot of time reading other authors posts, I learned from them how to market my books.

I created an author account with Goodreads and joined one of their groups - Never Too Old For Young Adult, which luckily for me is a very motivated group with strongly active moderators heading it. I have recently offered a number of my books for free in a Read for Review offer, which the moderators of the group process and request decisions are finalised sorting out the genuine participants.

One of my followers left me a comment on one of my posts over the Christmas break, thanking me for letting them know about Goodreads. I was touched, as I know how much I appreciated the helpful information I found on other peoples blogs, when I first began.

Joining a group set up for blog tours is also important, as it gives you the opportunity to market your work on other blogging sites. There are many sites to choose from. I am personally using The Blog Tour Exchange, set up by Sharon Bayliss, who is connected to Curiosity Quills (A blog site set up as a publishing house, with loads of useful information for new authors). The Blog Tour Exchange allows an author to sign up for a blog tour in exchange for hosting other authors blog tours on your blog. Badges and information are posted on the site, helping to publicize your blog tour.

Although it is important to have a vital network of authors to be connected to, it is also important to connect with potential readers. During my time blogging, I have found that a lot of authors tend to become involved in certain circles and forget to venture out of these groups to connect with the reading community. Try to find sites on the internet where readers lurk. Become involved in their blog hops and give away free copies of your work and ensure to visit them occasionally to strengthen your network.

There are many more tips I have found during my short time self-publishing and marketing my work, but I think I have covered the most important ones in this post. I would like to thank you again, L. Dianne for having me here today, it has been fun to share my hard learned tips with your readers!

Carolyn

He Came For Mine, Book Two in 'The Protector Series'

Fending for herself for almost two years, Jazz worries she will never see Sebastian again.
A new man enters her life, but he holds a secret.

Will Jazz trust him?

~~~~

Sebastian discovers an ancient ritual which must be performed on the Chosen One's son before his first birthday, or he will die.

He returns to Earth to find Jazz in the arms of another man.

A man he knows very well.
A man he does not trust....

Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Sony, Smashwords, and Goodreads.

Thank you, Carolyn.


I’m also doing a cover reveal for Alex’s next book...

CassaStorm by Alex J. Cavanaugh

A storm gathers across the galaxy…

Byron thought he’d put the days of battle behind him. Commanding the Cassan base on Tgren, his only struggles are occasional rogue pirate raids and endless government bureaucracies. As a galaxy-wide war encroaches upon the desert planet, Byron’s ideal life is threatened and he’s caught between the Tgrens and the Cassans.

After enemy ships attack the desert planet, Byron discovers another battle within his own family. The declaration of war between all ten races triggers nightmares in his son, shaking Bassan to the core and threatening to destroy the boy’s mind.

Meanwhile the ancient alien ship is transmitting a code that might signal the end of all life in the galaxy. And the mysterious probe that almost destroyed Tgren twenty years ago could be on its way back. As his world begins to crumble, Byron suspects a connection. The storm is about to break, and Byron is caught in the middle…

Release date: September 17, 2013
Science Fiction - Space Opera/Adventure
Print ISBN 9781939844002
E-book ISBN 9781939844019


28 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for having me today L.Dianne!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Connecting with readers is important. And it's all about the giving.

Thanks for revealing my cover today, Diane!

Unknown said...

Carolyn-- what a learning curve. Thanks for sharing your experience and congratulations. Alex, the book looks amazing.

Heather M. Gardner said...

Great post!

It takes a lot of work to be successful that most of us don't even realize at first.
The Protector series sounds very interesting too.

Alex sighting: #3!

HMG

Laura Eno said...

Alex has taken over the blogospere today!

Great advice, Carolyn. I'm still trying to figure out where the readers lurk. LOL!

Al Diaz said...

I am still working on connecting. Great advice here. Thanks!

And congrats to Alex. :)

Michelle Wallace said...

Thanks for this informative post! These are little gold nuggets!
Alex is storming the blogosphere today...

Jennifer Shirk said...

Great advice!

Love that cover too!

Southpaw said...

Helpful post and nice creepy cover C.M Brown!

Nice cover Alex.

shelly said...

Excellent tips. More chocolate to Alex.

Tweeted and Fb'd.

Hugs and chocolate,
Shelly

dolorah said...

I've learned enough about marketing and self publishing through the blogs to know I'm definitely not dedicated enough for the venture. Maybe someday, when I retire from the day job and have more time to learn new things :) I'm such a stick in the mud right now though. And I'm mostly working on short stories anyway.

Good advice though CM. Nice of you too share your journey. And your books look awesome.

Congrats to Alex on the cover reveal too.

Have a good weekend Diane.

........dhole

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Great post, Carolyn. I didn't know about the read for review feature at Goodreads. Sounds like a good program.

Great covers for both you and Alex.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I love reading stories like CM's. Hoorah for Alex.

Anonymous said...

Great guest post, Carolyn!

Yeah to Alex!

Gwen Gardner said...

Thanks for the tips, Carolyn. I'm only on Amazon right now, but I'm thinking of diversifying. And you're absolutely right about venturing outside the circle to reach readers. I need to do that badly!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Laura, I think they are hiding.

Donna, there is a lot of work involved.

Carol Kilgore said...

Carolyn, nice to see you here at Diane's. Good luck on your books. The indie author road is very interesting!

M Pax said...

Connections are the important part. Marketing seems to be ever evolving for me. Great tips, Carolyn.

Waving at Diane.

Jemi Fraser said...

Connecting with both readers and writers is definitely important!

Yay for Alex! :)

RaShelle Workman said...

Great info.

And YAY, Alex. =)

Ella said...

Great job! I love the tips :D
Thank you, this was informative and well done!

Congrats to Carolyn and Alex! :D

If you want to do a poem, for a photo-I can help ;D
Email me:
ellasedge@gmail.com



L. Diane Wolfe said...

Ella, thank you. It's been many years since I wrote anything poetic.

Rachel Schieffelbein said...

Both books look great. :) I love Alex's cover.

Rawknrobyn.blogspot.com said...

Thanks for such an informative post, Diane. It's always interesting to hear others' perspectives on publication.

xoRobyn

Jo said...

Must look at those two books, right up my street by the sound of it.

JO ON FOOD, MY TRAVELS AND A SCENT OF CHOCOLATE

Enid Wilson said...

Woohoo! It's very interesting insight, Carolyn. Alex, you're a power ninja!

Headstrong Girls

Unknown said...

Thanks everyone for being so supportive and leaving all the positive comments and thanks again L. Dianne for having me here on your site.

J.L. Campbell said...

Hi, Carolyn,

I've found some useful tips in your post. So true that we need to venture outside of our regular groups to see what else is out there.

All the best with your tour.