Author: Catherine Lyon Author/Writer

Torn

Catherine Lyon Author/Writer Posts

Blogs around the web and this one of my beautiful Ebony Queen always has something to write about! “TRUTH” … Cat

dancingpalmtrees's avatarEspiritu en Fuego/A Fiery Spirit

Jesus said, Suffer the little children to come unto me. Jesus said that any one who causes harm or injury to children it would be better if a millstone were hung around their necks.

Hell awaits Agent Orange aka #45 as well as televangelists, fundamentalists and evangelicals. Evil and wicked they are agents of the devil not God.

I see the children of my Great great great Grandmother being torn from her outstretched arms. She remembers when the blue eyed flaxen haired demons tore her from her Motherland tribe. Her wails course through the centuries.

I see my Native American ancestors torn from their Land, Tribes and families and forced into Indian schools.

I see the suffering of Jewish families torn apart during the Holocaust. Condemned to Concentration camps.

I see Japanese Americans torn from their homes and forced into Internment camps.

I see history repeating itself once more while…

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How To Kick Off Summertime Reading? Do a Free/Low-cost E-Book Promotion Just Like Cat. It’s Just That Simple!

Catherine Lyon Author/Writer Author News, Book Promotion Tips For Authors, Marketing and More, Posts, Updates and More , , , , , , , , , ,

Happy Summer Reading Friends and Authors!

In just a few short weeks SUMMER will be here! Well, here in Arizona it has already has hit as I have been writing poolside in the mornings to get my dose of vitamin D before it hits 100 or over each day …Lol.

It is, however, a perfect time to generate some new excitement for your E-Books as readers will be hitting the beach, lake, pools as it is vacation time too and they love reading to relax. That makes it the right time to run a lower cost promo for e-books. There are many things you can do just as I am with e-books to help readers find your books on sale that don’t cost a thing.

And there are amazingly low-cost places to run ads for it too! You can even add your books to free sites and they offer a self-serve Author Interview to make you and your books shine with large readerships. Here is how I will set up my e-book promotion for my Memoir, “Addicted To Dimes” …

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First: Make sure you have your e-book cost lowered a day or two before your promo starts. That way YOU know it is at the right price beforehand. You do this through your KDP vendor account. If you have a publisher, send the request to lower your e-book price a few weeks ahead of your promotion.

Second: All my authors know you need to have accounts on Facebook, Goodreads, and have an Amazon Author Page which is free and done through Author Central Amazon and at the bottom of your page, there is an area when you are in your author page to add an EVENT. Add your e-book promotion so readers on Amazon can know all about it. Next, do the same on your Facebook page.

Use the Create an Event setting and add an image, a title, and date of the event, and a description of your event: Summer E-Book Promotion! Invite all your FB friends and FB Group members and do posts and share the FB link to the event too! Now, go to your GoodReads account and sign in and add an Event Page there too.

You will have just set up FREE advertising of your e-book promotion on three different venues and it didn’t cost you a thing! Better changes of more SALES and BOOK REVIEWS! It’s just that simple. Here is my Facebook Event so you can see how it’s done! Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/218235278985328/


NOW, it is time for your e-book promo to some Free Book Sites to gain more exposure! My first go to place is Vinny of Awesome Gang – Where Awesome Book Readers Meet Awesome …  Just click on “Submit Your Book” and fill out the form. They do give you a low-cost and free option to share the e-book you are going to have on sale. You can choose what works best. Another very low price option comes with nice Book Teaser/Banners to use when you promote the sale for only $10!!! Here is mine they made and you can get yours here: Author Shout Promo Teasers.

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Now, hen you are done submitting your book on Awesomegang, then click here to submit a free self-serve Author Interview Submit An Author Interview and for even more FREE options click here Free Promotion for more book sites they are connected with and submit your sale and e-book there too AND you are DONE! Now use the links form your FB and GoodReads promos and promote them throughout your Social Media!

Your off and running with a free or low-cost promotion for your E-Book Sale and Like a Pro! … I wish you much success, reviews, and Sales!!

CAT

This Weeks Writing Blog Spotlight Goes To “Writer Unboxed” ~Post: Book Promotion Fatigue.

Catherine Lyon Author/Writer A Writer's Thoughts, Author News, Book Promotion Tips For Authors, Featured Guest, Marketing and More, Posts , , , , , , , ,

I happen to come across an interesting blog post over on “Writer UnBoxed” as I feel all authors and writers need to read this post. Since I do book promotions and literary consulting as my every day at home business, I could sure relate to this post! And I know many of you will too. As an author myself, I do know how hard it is to get our books into the hands of readers.

It took my first book a good year to catch fire with hours of listing and promoting it everywhere I could find. As we all know it does NOT happen overnight and we have to be diligent as it is why many writers hire me to promote their books and build a readership and I work on the social media side in building their following as well. There is no real recipe or guarantees. WHY?

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Because there are several factors to consider. How well written is the book? What genre is the book? Is it a hard genre to promote? How popular is the author? Well, there are many ways to tackle these questions. But that will have to be another post for another day. But when you have been promoting your books hard? It is OK to take a breather every now and then as this weeks post and blog spotlight indicates. Here is a little of the Guest Post and I hope you will visit “Writer UnBoxed” as that is the MAIN Purpose for Spotlighting them! Lol. 

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HAPPY BOOK PROMOTING!

**CAT**


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Dealing With Book Promotion Fatigue

Writers get tired.

The process of writing, of editing, of writing some more, of editing some more, of searching for representation, of reworking the book yet again, of waiting so long to see your words in print that you forget you even wrote some of them, of publishing in its maddening and bountiful entirety… well, some days, it can feel like too much.

Every stage has its own ups and downs, but personally, I find the promotion stage both the most exciting and the most challenging. Many parts of the publishing process can feel out of your control. Partly that’s because they are. But promotion is different because, unlike other stages, it has the capacity to go on forever. The joy and terror of publishing in the social media age that once you have a book, you literally could be promoting it every minute of every day.

(Note to writers everywhere: do NOT promote your book every minute of every day.)

Right now, my latest book (published under a pseudonym, as regular readers know) has been out in paperback for a few months. Typically, this is when a publisher’s efforts to promote the book taper off and any further promotion is squarely in my hands.

By   Now Read The Rest of The Story “Writer UnBoxed”

Cat Welcomes Back Diane and Part 3 of “Goodreads Turn Bad” No More Giveaways?

Catherine Lyon Author/Writer A Writer's Thoughts, Author News, Book Promotion Tips For Authors, Featured Guest, Marketing and More, Posts, Updates and More , , , , , , , ,

A week or so ago I had a wonderful author and poet as my guest, Diane Lockward. She had written a couple amazing articles on her blog about the changes to GoodReads Giveaways as she was is pretty upset with GoodReads, as I am,  taking away the paperback giveaways and joining with KDP in now using e-books for promos and now charging a pretty penny for the new plans!


“Goodreads Introduces New U.S. Giveaways Program–A More Powerful Book Marketing Tool for Authors and Publishers”

The problem is, they are now charging authors to do so with “pay to giveaway” plans. You can read the details and how it works here on GoodReads New Giveaway Program.    Diane has been testing this new way and wasn’t happy with the results on GoodReads. She was going to test Facebook ads and I said I would SHARE that outcome and she has now tested FB and here is what she found in a new blog post!! I hope it helps all my author friends who may, like me, have trying to figure GoodReads new program out! Lol. ~ Catherine

Blogalicious


“In my last post, I told you about my experience with an Amazon Giveaway. I have now completed my experimental Facebook Giveaway. Here are the details.”

I posted my Giveaway on Facebook on Friday morning, May 25. It ran until 7:00 PM EST on Wednesday, May 30. I posted it around 11:00 AM on my Timeline, the Terrapin page, and my author’s page. I also posted it in four groups I belong to. In addition, there were several Shares from most of these spaces. The ability to post in multiple areas on the site is a definite advantage to a Giveaway at Facebook. At Goodreads, you can post only on your own page, and Amazon posts it wherever they post Giveaways. I never even saw it on Amazon.

I asked people to enter the Giveaway by putting in a comment below the announcement. Most just entered their name or a note like “I’m in!” but quite a few posted lovely compliments! Unexpected bonus compliments!

Here are some of the compliments:
“I have the first book and love it.”
“Diane, your book sounds amazing!!”
“Love & use volume 1 all the time with my classes!”
“These guides are sensible, informed, clearly written, and stimulating. What more could a poet want?!”
“This looks fantastic.”
“I always recommend The Crafty Poet. It’s a great resource. Can’t wait to read Part II!”
“Your workshop books are a must for any practicing poet or teacher of poetry!”

These testimonials do not happen with Goodreads or Amazon. I felt real people out there wanting to win, not a sea of faceless strangers. This kind of response really put a smile on my face …

Here are the statistics:

The total number of entrants: 77 with the bulk of them appearing on my FB timeline, but also some in all the FB groups where I posted. I was happy with this number and suspect that it would have been higher if I hadn’t posted on a holiday weekend.

One winner: Was notified next day, book now in the mail!

Total Cost: the cost of one book which I had at home, one envelope, $3.19 postage!

The Facebook Giveaway is the least expensive. Much less expensive than Goodreads at $119.00 and less than half the Amazon one as well!

Big boost in sales? No, but that is common to all three Giveaways (and I can hope that some Facebook entrants will later hop on over to Amazon and hit the Buy button–in fact, I did have a few sales shortly after I announced the winner!).

Unexpected perks: 1) One person who saw my post on Facebook asked for a review copy so she could write a review for the paper she works for, 2) Another person asked if she could post my two earlier blog posts on her writing blog = more exposure!

My conclusion is that given the choice between a paid Giveaway at Goodreads, a low-cost one at Amazon, or a free one on Facebook, the best option is Facebook—by far.

Goodreads leads to more people entering, but on Facebook, you have the ability to reach additional people if you have a substantial list of friends. You can extend your reach by sharing to groups and pages on Facebook. You can also set your own time frame—I recommend just a few days as information goes through the feed so fast. Most of my responses came in the first two days.

And the cost is less than at Goodreads (by a lot) or at Amazon (by about $10). And you might get a few compliments!  ~Diane Lockward, Poet, and Author