Pinterest by Diane Burton

In 2004, I quit writing. As I’ve mentioned before, Life intruded. A combo of events led to stress, more stress, and though I tried to write through it, I finally gave up. For the next four years, I barely kept up with email and my RWA chapter’s loop. No energy. No writing.

When I came back, sometime in 2009, so much had changed. Facebook, Twitter, Myspace. Huh? Blogging? I felt like the techno-clueless Gibbs on NCIS. My brother-in-law joined Facebook so he could show off his fishing skills. 😊 Hubs joined. I resisted. I’d heard so many horror stories about FB. After peeking at Hubs’ page, I saw the “light” and gave in. How wonderful to connect with family and long-lost friends. Gradually, I connected with fellow writers and saw other benefits of FB. Around that time, I also returned to writing—for fun, at first, then seriously.

When I joined an online group called Authors Helping Authors, I learned about the world of social media. Holy cow! I was overwhelmed and ignorant. A tweet? What was that? I was supposed to write a tweet for others to share? How was I supposed to do that when I didn’t even know what it was? With the help of patient people (like our own Alicia Dean), I learned. This old dog learned a lot of new tricks.

All right! I mastered (sort of) Facebook and Twitter. Cool. Then, I heard about Pinterest. A bulletin board where you pinned pictures? Huh? I’d heard about people doing that with pictures from magazines taped to poster boards. I didn’t have time for cutting and pasting. But how did that work online? I understood how it might be useful for crafters, mothers with young kids, but for a writer? No idea. Until I read a blog post about how authors could use Pinterest.

A whole new world opened up. A visual world. I created boards for each of my books then added pins of things that provided inspiration for the book. When I started, I worked backwards. The book was written when I added pins that went with it. For example, for my first book, Switched, (originally pubbed in 2001, re-issued in 2011) I added the following pins (pictures): a farmhouse and farmland (the story begins and ends on a farm), starships, Kaylee (the mechanic from Firefly because my MC is a mechanic), posters from the movie Vertigo (my hero has acrophobia). If I found pictures of actors that I’d choose to play the main characters, I added them, too.

Then I found more uses for Pinterest. Besides being “inspirations” for my story, the pins could be topics for blog posts. In my science-fiction romance, The Protector, my MC thwarts a trafficking ring then captures the ring leader. On my Pinterest board for that book, I added info on human trafficking. When I did a blog tour for The Protector, I wrote a post on human trafficking. I even have a board with pictures of the authors who’ve visited my blog with a link back to their post. (I really need to update that board.)

Once I caught up with the already published books, I began to use Pinterest for ideas for works in progress. That’s when the pins really did provide inspiration. The most fun I’ve had so far is finding wedding dresses for my work-in-progress board “Inspiration for Alex O’Hara #4.” Not just wedding gowns but bridesmaid dresses and mother of the groom dresses, and ideas for bachelorette parties.

Of course, I have more personal boards. Before we built our house, I looked for pins for the “home of my dreams.” I loaded my own pictures from vacations. Tampa Tourism used a picture I took of a dolphin in Tampa Bay for their board—without giving me credit, I might add. I have boards for travel, favorite places and those I want to visit, Dollar Store hacks for the home, recipes, quotations, and books.

But, here’s the kicker. There are only so many hours in the day. Writing is primary. Promotion, next. Can’t forget family and home stuff. Using social media to promote ourselves and our books takes time. I use Facebook and Twitter (add in Triberr, which amplifies the reach of blog posts into tweets). Other social media like Instagram, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Snapchat, etc. sound interesting take more time—first, to learn how to use it, then actually using it. At this point, I can barely keep up with what I’ve already joined.

Of all the social media that I’ve tried, Pinterest is my favorite. I figure if I’m going to use time not spent on writing, I might as well have fun doing it. If you’d like to check out my boards (and pins), here’s the link.  https://www.pinterest.com/dmburton72/boards/

What social media do you like best?

Diane Burton combines her love of mystery, adventure, science fiction, and romance into writing romantic fiction. She blogs here on the 16th and 30th of each month. She shares snippets from her stories every weekend on her blog.  Her latest release is NUMBERS NEVER LIE, a romantic suspense, available at Amazon, free on Kindle Unlimited. 

Progress by Christine DePetrillo

Back in July, I attended the RWA Annual Conference in Orlando. I didn't post anything about it back then, but thought I'd speak today about some of the things I learned and what I've done with that learning.

Hold onto your hats, peeps. I feel a list coming on.

TOP FIVE THINGS I LEARNED AT RWA CONFERENCE
(and how they've helped me move forward)

1. Scheduling social media posts - Okay, so I knew I could do this, but I didn't realize how the consistency of it would encourage more interaction on social media. I basically stick with Facebook because I don't like the format of Twitter and don't take enough pictures/videos to make Instagram worth my time. By taking an hour to an hour and half each week to schedule two posts a day (8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. per conference learning) to my author Facebook page for a week's time, I have seen more people like my page, like my posts, comment on posts, and share them. I truly feel as if I'm using Facebook much better to push my writing career in the right direction and gain more readers.

2. Ten percent of writing revenue should go into marketing - Say what? Had no idea. I was spending way, way, way less than that for sure. I'm probably still not spending that much, but when opportunities come by or I find them for myself, I'm a little looser with the purse strings because, honestly, you do have to spend money to make money.

3. Canva.com - I won't even admit publicly to what I was using to make social graphics and advertisements. I can't say it aloud. You'll think I'm a moron. Canva.com is wonderful and has really upped my visual marketing. If you didn't know about this website, check it out right after you're done reading this blog post.

I said AFTER!

4. Just because I have more time to write, it doesn't mean I'll use it ALL to write - I go through this every summer. I think that I'm off from teaching and I'll spend an entire eight hours on the patio, writing like a maniac. I'll generate so many pages I'll be drowing in them. Never the case. Never. The. Case. And that's okay. I went to a panel about quitting your day job to write full time and all three authors said they write about the same amount as they did when they had their day jobs. What they have now is more time to promote and market themselves. More time for the "business" of writing. Makes total sense. Alleviated much of the guilt I always had when I wrote for only 4 hours a day during the summer then had other things to do. I was still living the writer's life.

5. Find your lane - This was something author Susan Wiggs said in her address to conference attendees. She was speaking about not comparing yourself to the writers around you, to find your own lane and drive in it to the destination meant for YOU. We've always got our eyes on who is making it as an author, but we'll make it too if we stay true to ourselves, take steps to improve our craft, and never give up our dreams. Success is waiting for us if we just hit the gas and keep focused on the road ahead.

Maybe these kernels will be helpful to you too. They've made my writing work feel more purposeful, and I'm happy with where things are headed.

Like my author Facebook page if you want to see what I'm all about. I'd love to see you there!

Toodles,
Chris
Find all my titles at www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com.

Book Sales are like a Butterfly...by Jannine Gallant

Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

Apparently book sales are also like that illusive butterfly. We all strive to market our books and attract some attention in the hope of achieving a few sales. I have a feeling most of us aren't happy with the results we're getting. Maybe because we're going about it all wrong.

I read a post the other day on this topic. It was called "Please shut up: Why self-promotion as an author doesn't work." You can click on the title to go to the blog, but basically what the author is saying is we can blog, post and tweet our little brains out on social media, but no one is listening. No one on social media wants to be sold something. Her theory is the only good social media does is to connect with people. We should talk about topics that interest us and create friendships--not try to pimp our books. In doing so, maybe those people will think, "Gee, she seems like a nice person. Maybe I should go buy her book!" We shouldn't push ourselves on people. We should lure them in instead. She used a fishing analogy, but I'm picturing myself leaving a trail of breadcrumbs through the woods... Okay, I guess that makes me the evil witch in the gingerbread house! LOL

Her other point is that we should quit worrying about marketing and just write good books. To succeed, we need a superior product plus the key ingredient...luck. I've given this some thought, and I fear this woman is spot on. Blogging, posting and tweeting about my books really hasn't worked very well when it comes to sales. But I've made a lot of great author friends in the process. Too bad most of us don't have a lot of time to read because we're too busy marketing and squeezing in writing time around the edges. I do enjoy posting the occasional photo of my kids on Facebook. They usually get way more comments and likes than book posts attract. So, should we all simply stop trying to promote on social media and just write great books? Then there's that other all important ingredient... You might want to ask yourself, in the immortal words of Dirty Harry, "Do you feel lucky?"

And now, if you've followed my trail of breadcrumbs and think I'm a nice person...go buy my latest book! LOL It's available on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Or, leave a comment to tell us what you think about marketing books on social media. Should we all just shut up?

I'M FLYING OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST by Rolynn Anderson

 In July, we have a chance to draw inspiration from two movies: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and/or He’s Not That into You.  The choice is easy for me.  OFOCN is one of my favorite movies because the script captures the kinds of system craziness that could send normal folks to the loony bin.  Remember the awe and fear Broom Bromden (the giant-sized Native American) holds for ‘The Combine’?  Broom thinks that the system/organizations/government molds people so they are identical, much like effect of the farming machine, called a combine, makes duplicate hay bales.  He maintains that people have no power over this massive machine and if we try to fight it, we'll be sent to the crazy house, just like the Combine sent him there.  Nurse Ratched is part of the Combine, using intimidation, shame and medication to cut men down to submissive, small sizes.

We writers struggle against our own Combine in the forms of Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Google + and other emerging social networking organizations.  These entities are important to our success as book-sellers, but their administrators won’t explain how they work.  What’s more, they change their rules or formats at will and determine career-changing algorithms without sharing them with us.  Examples: Amazon has an arbitrary way of deciding who can review whose book, and recently, Amazon is taking a dim view of sexy book covers, dumping some without notifying authors.  Another example: ‘Liking’ on Facebook can bring a wave of unwelcome ‘guests’ to your personal page.

We wish these networks were regulated or somehow forced to be transparent so we have a fighting chance to understand how to use them, but I doubt that would ever happen.  We get the sense that there’s an insidious tradeoff for using their service: the more we tap into their networks to sell our books, the more they will know about us and will use/misuse that information.  That’s the power of a ‘Combine.’ 

So I ask you.  What parts of the social networking system make you crazy?  How do you keep it from molding you to its liking?

Note:  I'm in Sitka, Alaska, where the only internet access for me is in the grocery store.  Please comment and know I will get back to you around noon and in the evening.  I'm spending July 4th here, my decorated boat bobbing among the fishing vessels of hard-scrabble fishermen and women. Sitka is an amazing place.   Happy 4th to you and yours!  Rolynn
My website: 
http://rolynnanderson.com/

Check out our boat journeys on http://steveandrolynn.blogspot.com/

What I Learned at a Multi-Author Book Signing

Sunday, my local Romance Writers of America chapter hosted a book signing at a local mall. I watched the way other authors interacted with shoppers as they walked by.

Laura Breck

Of course, we all had candy and free giveaways on our tables to try to lure customers closer, but the authors who made the most contacts were the ones who came out from behind their tables.

Standing in the high traffic areas, these authors handed out bookmarks and trading cards and chatted with people as they walked by. The topic wasn’t their book, but instead, they asked questions about Valentine’s Day plans or what they were shopping for.

Most of the people who walked by weren’t interested in buying paperbacks, but they were excited to learn about our books so they could download them to their electronic readers. A few people bought books, though, mainly as gifts for loved ones.

It was very nice to connect with readers, even though I now have a big box of paperbacks, and no place to store them!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Laura

~Smart Women ~Sexy Men ~Seductive Romance

LauraBreck.com

~Dancing in a Hurricane is available in digital formats at Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble and in paperback at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Createspace

~Love in the Land of Lakes is available in digital format at Smashwords, All Romance Ebooks, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon, and in paperback at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Createspace