NEW WAYS TO MARKET YOUR eBOOK_Insecure Writers Support Group post

It has never been easier to publish your book.  It has never been harder to get people to buy it. 

Sounds like the beginning to A TALE OF TWO CITIES doesn't it?


If you try what everyone else is trying, you will get what they are getting: meager results.


Jessica Bell is doing a BOOK TOUR on the FIRST WEDNESDAY of this month --

going head to head with Alex's INSECURE WRITERS SUPPORT GROUP

She tried an Amazon Gift Card giveaway for a riddle tied to her new book WHITE LADY

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MRKYH28/

1.) SHE IS TRYING TO CREATE BUZZ for her new book.

Jessica is literally a world traveler, hosts writing seminars, and has been a blog presence for a long time.  She already (as of this writing) two 5 star reviews on Amazon.

But for those of us lesser mortals who cannot globe trot or attend/host writer seminars, what can we do?

FACEBOOK charges if you want to get past 10% of your followers to get your book posts.  Ouch.

TWITTER is a place where everyone is screaming BUY ME and no one is buying others' books.

LINKED IN and GOODREADS are unreliable sources what with misleading and snarky reviews.

2.) MAKE A VIDEO

Wendy Tyler Ryan helped boost sales for my books with her evocative book trailers.  

But with her recent ill health and inability to make more, my sales have taken a hit.

If you can make your own, take a stab at it.  I am cyber-challenged so that way is out for me.

People love YouTube.  

I am considering making my own YouTube channel for the book trailers I already have.  Look into it.  What have you got to lose?

3.) FORGET THE MOST POPULAR GIRL IN HIGH SCHOOL

DON'T GIVE IT AWAY FOR FREE.

If you have a series of books, 

permanently sell the first book in the series for 99 cents and the rest at either $1.99 or $2.99.

People look at FREE and think your prose is worthless.  

People usually take you at the value at which you place yourself and your work.

Encourage them to take a chance on your work with 99 cents and price the rest of your work at a level that they will feel more likely to buy several of your books at once after they liked your first one.

4.) CONSIDER eBOOK BLOGS

There are numerous blogs, websites, newsletters, and social media pages that specifically review and promote e-books. 

The influence of these reviewers affects a lot of ebook buyers. 

Below is a list of several well-known blogs and websites with large traffic:

Ereader News Today: http://www.ereadernewstoday.com/
Kindle Nation: http://kindlenationdaily.com/
Pixel of Ink: http://www.pixelofink.com
Inspired Reads: http://www.inspiredreads.com
Kindle Reader: http://kindlereader.blogspot.com/ 
IndieReader: http://indiereader.com/author-promotional-opportunities/

 Getting your e-book mentioned on these websites can help generate a lot of downloads.

You can write to the administrators of these e-book blogs and request a feature of your book.

Some sites give free listings while others will feature your book for a fee.

For instance, Kindle Nation offers author sponsorship opportunities to promote your book for $99 to $400.

A fee may not make sense for you in these harsh economic times, and I am with you there.


5.)  CONSIDER MAKING AN AUDIOBOOK OF YOUR eBOOK

WHY?

Having an audiobook makes you easier to find!

There are over 100,000 books on Audible. There are millions of books on Amazon.

I can’t think of an easier way to break your book out of the crowd than to turn it into an audiobook.

It’s a lot easier to stand out from the crowd if you’re in a small crowd.


AUDIOBOOKS GIVE YOU ACCESS TO NON-READERS:

 There are millions of people in the world who hate reading, but love listening.  Be there for them!

  ACX lets you produce the audiobook for free, provided you split the revenue with the narrator 50/50.

ACX isn't as great an opportunity as it once was, but it opens your book to a wide range of book lovers who wouldn't know of you otherwise.

I HOPE THIS HAS HELPED IN SOME SMALL WAY.

WHY ARE PEOPLE SO MEAN?

With a Master's in Psychology, I know the textbook answer ... or rather stabs at the answers.

I work with a lab staff that is ... unique.  

After all, they have a college degree when all else in the blood center do not.  

It is only "natural" for them to feel superior to everyone else there.

Except for me ... I have two degrees.  That irritates half of them ... puts the lie to the reason for their supposed superiority. 

 So they work hard at calling me stupid in a variety of ways.

When I have to enter their domain for job duties, I turn around and there is a poster on the inside of their door:

WHEN YOU ARE DEAD EVERYONE KNOWS IT 

BUT YOU.  

THE SAME IS TRUE WHEN YOU ARE STUPID.

To the right is another poster on the wall:

SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES ... 

GOOD FOR NOTHING ... 

BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE 

WHEN YOU PUSH THEM DOWN 

A FLIGHT OF STAIRS.

Further to the right is their refrigerator door upon which is a cardboard starburst with

ATTENTION P.M. TECHS (me)

There is a long series of dotted paper lines leading to the bottom of the glass door and an arrow which reads:

PLACE RARE BLOOD HERE ( the "STUPID" is implied since the shelf spotlighted is already marked RARE BLOOD.)

I work alone basically on the weekend, 

and the list of mean-spirited, cruel, and short-tempered remarks from the Lab tech on weekend duty is full of the same and worse.

So ... WHY ARE PEOPLE SO MEAN?

You could say because they are people ... but that explains nothing, for many are selfless, kind, and giving.

Whether it is as a means of promoting our groups, or ourselves, 

we tend to be more aggressive when our self-worth has been challenged 

and we are not feeling particularly positive about ourselves.

When our self-esteem is threatened, 

we are more likely to compare ourselves to people we think are worse off than us, 

to see other people as having more negative traits, 

to degrade people who aren't members of our groups, and to become more directly aggressive towards people in general.

When you insult or criticize someone else, it may say more about how you are feeling about yourself than the other person.

Insecurity over ourselves drives much of the cruelty in the world.

BUT IS THAT IT?  REALLY?

You hear DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY but when you are repeatedly shamed and put down, you would have to be a statue not to bleed.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

 What to do when one of these out of the cage "beasts" becomes part of your world?

Remember, they are often charming, beautiful, handsome, and seemingly accomplished. 

However, inside they lack true confidence -- so different from their natural bravado.

Predictably their inner misery is and will continue to be projected as weapons against you.

 Once this is understood, there is only one thing to do.

 Banish them from your world, and if this is not possible, buffer yourself as best you can from their reach.

 Do not tell them they are hurtful, and do not try to reason with them or teach them another way.

Waking up and changing is up to them, and sadly most will not.

When you withdraw and buffer yourselves, simply no longer caring about them, any power they hold over you is gone.

THE WORLD MUST BE ABOUT TO END for I am about to quote a Taylor Swift song!





 You, with your switching sides,
And your walk by lies and your humiliation
You, have pointed out my flaws again,
As if I don’t already see them.
I walk with my head down,
Trying to block you out cause I’ll never impress you….
                          —Taylor Swift, “Mean”

Croon along with Taylor and me:  "Why you gotta be so meaaan?" 

Remember that you can control your response when someone does or says something mean.

 We may not be able to control much about our life circumstances, 

but with practice we can control how we respond to those circumstances.

Practice Self-Compassion.  

It stings to be unfairly hurt.  Let yourself say OUCH! ... then go on with your life.

They are a part of your life for only a section of your day.

The bully is bruised inside, 

not in control in some major part of their life, 

and learner of all the WRONG LESSONS from their own pain.

WHY DO YOU THINK PEOPLE ARE SO MEAN?

WHY IS THE NUMBER OF MEAN PEOPLE INCREASING?

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THEM IN OUR LIVES?

And for a little humor to leaven this post:

YOUNG MARK TWAIN AND THE SECRET OF THE BARBARY COAST

Portsmouth Square, San Francisco, during the gold rush, 1851

{Image in Public Domain}

I. Some Sins Never Let Go

I smiled sadly. Young Sammy was all eyes as he walked the dirt sidewalk of the Barbary Coast.  His gait was that odd shuffle that stayed with him all his days.  

At sixteen, it gave him the odd appearance of old age.  When old that shuffle would grant him the illusion of youth.  It fit the tangle of contradictions that was the boy who would grow to become Mark Twain.

Sammy smiled, "Did the editor of the San Francisco Herald really promise to make me a reporter?"

"Yes.  If I brought the murderer of its publisher, James King, to justice."

Sammy rubbed his hands together.  "Captain Sam, I am as good as hired!  You're the best lawmen ever."

I studied him.  "Isn't your mother worried about you being shot in this wild town?"

"Naw."

"She trusts me that much?"

"Of course not!  She says any boy destined to hang has nothing to fear from guns."

I smiled wryly.  That sounded like her all right.

 Before the Gold Rush of 1849, there were only a few hundred people living in tents and wooden shanties within San Francisco. 

However after the gold rush the population of San Francisco would increase fifty-fold in just two years—from 492 in 1847 to over 25,000 in 1849. 

That extreme growth combined with a lack of strong government had created many opportunities for criminals, corrupt politicians, and brothel owners.

Sammy's grey-blue eagle eyes widened as he hushed in a breath as we stepped onto the corner of Pacific and Montgomery Streets.

"Welcome to Casa," I said low.

Sammy rasped, "It's like something you'd see in Old New Orleans with those lacy iron terraces."

"There's a Casa there, too.  And in Paris.  And in Los Angeles."

"Where?"

"A small trading post of 250 people about 400 miles south of here.  I own a lot of property there ... as I do here."

Sammy shook his head.  "Lord, I ain't never seen the like."

He arched his head back and took in the night sky. 

 "Yet even with the torches on those balconies, I can still see the constellations shining in their myriad majesty, and moving like an army dressed in silver mail, marching from unknown victories to conquer in distant wars."

Even so young, Sammy still had the Way about him and his words.

The tall Chinese man in the doorway breathed a sigh of relief.  "At last you come, Xian.  Qing Long has crossed the ocean for revenge."

Sammy frowned, "Qing Long?"

"The Azure Dragon," I murmured, feeling as if my sins in the Opium Wars would never stop haunting me.

"Th-That's just a nickname, right?" quavered Sammy.

I shook my head.

Sammy muttered, "Does Los Angeles have a newspaper, Captain Sam?"

WHY DO WE READ?

Stories have been told for as long as we have been able to speak. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/discussion/why-do-we-read-and-write-novels#sthash.g5vOojis.dpuf

Stories have been told for as long as we have been able to speak. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/discussion/why-do-we-read-and-write-novels#sthash.g5vOojis.dpuf

Stories have been told for as long as we have been able to speak. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/discussion/why-do-we-read-and-write-novels#sthash.g5vOojis.dpuf

Stories have been told for as long as we have been able to speak. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/discussion/why-do-we-read-and-write-novels#sthash.g5vOojis.dpuf

Since blind Homer spun tales from his darkness to illuminate the darkness of his listeners, Man has told stories.

But in this video and digital age, do people still read?

You writers don't count.  Agents will tell you that!  Only poets read poetry today.

And we are close to a society where only writers read.

Most readers were read to when young. Now, our young are warehoused in kennels where the love of the story has withered.

When we read novels, we read about characters.

As readers we have a perspective not found in real life that allows us instant access to what characters are thinking and feeling.

Through their interactions with other characters we understand their internal journeys and empathise with them.

This behaviour of ours is possible because of what we call Theory of Mind,

and is the ability of humans, from a young age, to deduce or infer the mind-states of others.

As soon as we learn to do this as children we don’t stop doing it until we die.

Getting it wrong about other’s intentions can have terrible consequences on us as individuals, on our relationships and our place in our wider social group.

Social death is almost as much to be avoided as physical death.

This is why we constantly study the behaviour of others, modify our own and, especially, we talk about it.

We all know that reading about heroic characters in impossible situations can be thrilling and a great escape from our otherwise drab lives.

But new research shows that reading fiction can actually make us better people as well —

the more we identify with fictional characters on the page, the more we try to act like them.

As technology has played a bigger role in our lives, our skills in critical thinking and analysis have declined, while our visual skills have improved.

The proportion of children reading for pleasure has declined as their time is crowded with other activities,

and more than a fifth never read in their own time, according to recent research.

The study, which finds a clear link between reading outside class and high achievement in school,

reveals that fewer children are reading comics and magazines.

In a culture that reveres AMERICAN IDOL, YouTube, Facebook, and the Kardashians ...

does reading matter anymore?

When our current generation dies,

will people read for pleasure anymore?

CHANGING FACES_TO REMEMBER BEING HUMAN_WEP

http://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/

Denise Covey has a new writing prompt:

You look into the mirror and see a different face.

TO REMEMBER BEING HUMAN

(609 Words)

 http://www.amazon.com/RITES-PASSAGE-Roland-Yeomans-ebook/dp/B004XQVPYM/

{Buy the Kindle book for $1.99 & buy the audiobook for just $1.99!

A $15 savings!!}

{The year is 1853.  Samuel McCord is on the trail of the murderer of a young girl.  He delivered Rachel as a baby.  

And to find her murdered, her face removed to be used as a mask by the murderer is driving him nearly crazy.

He is now on the transatlantic steamer, DEMETER, following a clue given him by Marie Leveau.  

Having just read a letter written him by a young Mark Twain, Samuel feels "human" enough to look into the mirror.}

I tucked the letter back in my stash.  It had done its job.  I felt human again, or at least human enough to be able to look in that mirror.  There were some things a man couldn't walk around.  And looking in mirrors was the worst and the most important one not to duck.  Hell, how did my life get to this point, where looking in mirrors was a nightmare? 

I slowly got up and approached the dressing table with its golden, ornate mirror.  I had walked to certain ambushes feeling better.  If I turned around, I knew I would see the ghost of my father watching me.  I just didn't know what look would be on his face, compassion or satisfaction.  I didn't know which would hurt more.  I sat down with my eyes closed.

I opened them.  The mirror showed a room fit for an emperor, nothing more.  Nothing.  No reflection of me at all.  What had I become?

I sat for long heartbeats staring at the nothing I had become.  Words that I remembered Father quoting came to mind.  To him they had meant something else entirely than what they now meant to me.  My words sounded hollow in the empty air.

“When the stars threw down their spears,

 And watered heaven with their tears,

 Did he smile his work to see?

Did he who made the Lamb make thee?”

Then, a swirling of black clouds in the shape of a tall man appeared in the mirror.  It slowly focused into the buckskin covered Apache who had saved my life in the Parajito Mountains of Sonora so long ago.  Saved it, then twisted it, and finally ended it.  His sad bear face grunted at me.

"Ever the poet.  You are undoubtedly the strangest white man I have ever known, Dyami.  Why do you forever quote the words of those long dead?"

Dyami.  Eagle in his tongue.  I felt like a vulture.

I shrugged.  “Maybe cause it makes me feel closer to Father who always quoted them.  Or maybe when I no longer feel human, it helps me to quote someone struggling with the pain of their own humanity.”

It looked like my words had hurt him somehow, and I tried for a smile and failed.  "Hello, Elu.  Long time, no see."

"And whose fault is that?  You shy from mirrors like some ugly sqaw."

"I feel ugly.  I murdered my father, cursed you, done --"

"Your blood cursed me.  As mine cursed you.  Oh, by the way, Mother sends her usual regards."

"In other words, she wants to eat my eyes and tear out my liver."

"Of course.  In her view, it is your fault that I am trapped here between worlds."

"It is."

"No, it is ours.  I asked you to become blood-brother with me.  You accepted.  I thought my heart big to accept a white man's blood.  You gave the lie to my thoughts by not even pausing to let a half-breed's blood mingle with your own."

"It never occurred to me to ask what race your mother was."

"Our mother, now."

"My mother was killed by Father to spare her the torture and rape by Comanches.  Yours is the living spirit of this world who --"

Elu quickly held up his right hand, all fingers up but the forefinger, which he held down with his thumb.  "Hush! Estanatlehi may be listening."

"So?  What is she going to do?  Make my life hell?"

"You say the words, but you do not understand them.  The colors of her thoughts are the Northern Lights.  Think long before you anger her."

"I already have, remember?"