10 Ways to Make Readers Happy by Kayelle Allen @kayelleallen #amwriting #MFRWauthor

I host 350+ authors every year on my Romance Lives Forever blog. I'm the founder of Marketing for Romance Writers. Authors talk to me. I hear a lot of stories about readers who are unhappy and about ones who are ecstatic. There are some things in common. Here are ten of the best ways to make readers happy. Some are from personal experience, many from other writers.

1. Write well. If you don't do this, it doesn't matter what else you do. Triple check your spelling. Punctuate properly. Readers today have been exposed to a wide variety of writing due to the internet and have learned to be discerning. A poorly written, misspelled book will be passed over in short order. For blog posts, spellcheck and/or use a site like Grammarly or SmartEdit. For books, hire an editor.
2. Use proper formatting. Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, Lulu, CreateSpace, etc. each has its own requirements for formatting. Follow them to the letter. Whatever the requirements say should be done -- do it. These services know what the programs will do and what it takes to make them work best. Follow their advice. A hard to read book gathers no interest.
3. Along those same lines, when posting quotes to the web, in email, on Yahoo Groups, and so on, never use "curly" or "smart" quotes (the type that curl toward words on the left, and away on the right). Many programs, blogs, and sites cannot read the code that word processing programs use for these, so they substitute code to try to make sense of what they see. Instead of your quoted text appearing as: "I didn't do it." The reader sees:  tm&*I didn#@*$t do it.98cm&  Imagine an entire page of this. Trust me, this does not make reaaders happy. Go into the autocorrect features of your word processing program and turn off these types of quotes (and look at all the tabs -- they are in more than one place), then, using the Replace command on your editing toolbar, replace all " to ", and ' to '. It will look no different to you in the replace command dialog box, but the computer will change all the codes and the formatting on the other end will come out right. Your readers will thank you.
4. Use only a simple serif or non-serif font (like Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri.). Readers who do not have a special font loaded on their computers will see plain text (such as Courier) because their machines will substitute the fancy font for a default one.
5. Provide good content. If you have interesting information to share with your readers, they will come to you. Whether you use blogs, Facebook, Twitter, or other services, content is the number one reason people will follow you. "Getting your name out there" is a byword. Everyone wants to know how to do it. How do you gain friends on Facebook and so on? How do you get people to read your book? The answer is to give them solid content, well written.
6. When promoting your book, provide a "set up" -- a few lines so people know what the scene or excerpt they are about to read is about. Help them understand the characters, so they don't feel they walked in during the middle of a conversation.
7. Share your work on more than your website and your blog. Yahoo groups, Facebook, other authors' blogs, Goodreads, and other places are good sites to share your material with readers.
8. Use Twitter to generate interest in your books by sharing tidbits and snips of dialog or scenes. Believe it or not, there are Twitter accounts that post entire stories, each less than 140 characters long. Try delivering your hero or heroine's lines in successive tweets. Not all of them, mind you -- just a few to create curiosity.
9. Share promos with other authors. If you and another author have similar books (say vampire romances) hold a contest together. You promote your book and hers to your readers, and vice versa. You will both gain. I've done this with friends over the years and gained not only readers, but best friends who will promo with me at the drop of a hat. You can't beat that.
10. Tell people you meet that you're an author. Carry your business cards or bookmarks. When I'm at a bookstore, or looking at books at the grocery store, I invariably start talking to the woman who's standing next to me. Especially when she picks up a book I already own, or am about to buy. Or she's buying an author I've never heard of before. I ask questions. Somehow it always leads to sharing my own story. I hand over my card. I once got an email from someone who said she'd met me in a doctor's office several years before, and wanted to let me know she'd bought one of my books and loved it. Made my day.

If your goal is to make readers happy, show them you are a wellspring of stories to whom they can go. If you can meet that need and do the things above, you are well on your way.

---

Kayelle Allen is a best-selling American author. Her unstoppable heroes and heroines include contemporary every day folk, role-playing immortal gamers, futuristic covert agents, and warriors who purr.
Homeworld/Blog https://kayelleallen.com
Join the Romance Lives Forever Reader Group Download four free books and get news about books coming soon. You can unsubscribe at any time. 

Who’s Your Target Audience? Do You Know? #MFRWauthor #WriteTip #Writers #Authors

It’s been a while since I posted. I’m sorry for disappearing and apologise for the incredibly long absence. Life got in the way, but I’m back now and ready to help you to level up!

I remember when I first decided to pursue a writing career; one of the first aspects I had to understand was who my audience was. Of course, I immediately thought: easy-peasy. My audience is the same as every other romance author out there. Women between the ages of 18 and 100. If she is able to read, she’s my audience. Rich or poor, it doesn’t matter, so long as she enjoys reading romance. Nor does it matter where she lives. Romance is world-renowned and everyone loves it, right?

I’m betting some of you have boiled your marketing aim down to that same wide margin. What would you think if I told you you’re looking at this thing all wrong? My light bulb moment came once I realised my target audience wasn’t who I thought it was. If you don’t know who your readers are, you can’t effectively market to them. How are you going to target everyone? Impossible. And here’s the rub—not everybody will love your amazing, beautifully written story. What? Yep! So you need to know your audience. Take the time to figure it out. It’s like trying to understand your main character’s internal conflict—you need to dig deep.

Your real audience.

As an example, my target audience looks a little like this. Yes, I have readers who are in their

Created by Crystal Swan

early twenties and readers who are well into their seventies. These are the ones I know of so I will say my readers are between the ages of 20 and 80. Notice I say readers and not women because there are men who also enjoy romance novels; I have a few of those, too! So that’s the age and gender of my readers.

S/he has Christian views. Most of them go to church and read the Bible, but are not religious. They love God and have a strong relationship with our Saviour. Abhors profanity, blasphemy, and gratuitous sex and violence. But while this is the case, my target audience are open-minded and enjoy the gift and pleasures of lovemaking with their husband/wife. Yes, lovemaking is in the Bible and not only Song of Solomon. Read the various books and see for yourself if you don’t believe me. Anyway, back to my target audience. They are gentle-minded and long for a world filled with love and not hate. S/he prefers the lighter side of life and loves to laugh. So fun, feel-good, saucy stories are perfect for them. 

My stories are not marketed as Inspirational or Christian romance, but my characters believe, pray and even go to church off stage. If you look at my author brand, you’ll see I market my books as sweet ‘n’ spicy romantic comedy. That’s because they’re like the sweet romance, but the bedroom doors are wide open. You won’t find foul language, but you will get super-spicy love scenes. And my audience will enjoy my brand of emotional conflict and humour. 

You can't please everyone.

In the same way that we don’t all enjoy the every book, not everyone is our audience. It’s our job as authors to pinpoint our readers and market our books to them. Do you know your audience? Tell me all about it in the comments section below.

Until next time, write with clarity and style!

Monique xx

Monique DeVere is a full-time author of Sweet 'n' Spicy Romantic Comedy and Contemporary Romance. She also writes Christian Supernatural Suspense movie scripts. She is married to her very own strong-silent-type hero and has four children. When Monique isn’t writing or spending quality time with her family, she likes to armchair travel to distant and exciting parts of the world and considers herself to have the best job on earth. 

You can visit her at moniquedevere.com where she invites you to join her exclusive Sweet ‘n’ Spicy Readers Club packed full of goodies for her members. Monique loves to hear from her readers, do contact her at monique@moniquedevere.com.

When Seasons aren't Seasonal #MFRWAuthor

HOT HOT

On Easter Sunday I had to leave the Agility practice area after ten minutes because it was so oppressively hot. Practice time shifted from 10 AM to 8:30 AM since summer was obviously here. The next weekend it was damp and chilly and no thank you I’ll stay home this Sunday. The weekend after that I watched snow pile up around my new plantings. After that Easter Sunday I washed my heavier sleeping sweats and put them in totes to store for the next few months. Back out they came since these are also my go to writing clothes.

Welcome to Spring in New Mexico.

Kinda Cold

Why am I blathering on about climate anomalies? Don’t we all from time to time have to deal with weather oddities? Of course we do. Since we generally know at least a few days in advance we can prepare by opening or closing windows, and by wardrobe awareness. This time of year I keep my furnace turned very low but not completely off, to maintain at least minimal comfort in the house. All these adjustments address immediate needs and can be handled pretty much in the moment. The same as we can adjust our writing to reflect a new plot idea, a new turn of phrase.
The early spring, after a milder winter, followed the pattern of no real pattern one becomes accustomed to in the Southwest high desert. One deals with it by being flexible, prepared with a wide range of clothing options.Yes there is a parallel to our writing world. We dress to the immediate need, not automatically to the calendar. In that same fashion, we write, or should be writing, the story we need to share. Not the story we think people might want to be reading in six months and certainly not the story people are reading now. That would be similar to pulling out your bikinis (yours, not mine, I gave up on those a long time ago) because by glory the calendar says May even if the sky says gotcha and do you want snow or hail or both? We can’t know for sure purple aliens in chain mail will still be popular by the time our book is done. And do we really want to write about chain mail purple aliens?
Write your book. Not anyone else’s.
BICHOK, y’all

Pretty Much Perfect

Mona Karel, list moderator

Mona Karel is the writing alter ego for Monica Stoner, who gave up life in Southern California to

retire with her husband to New Mexico. Not a great sacrifice except between the sunsets, the gardens, and the Salukis it's harder than ever to find time to write! Her Stormhaven series is set in New Mexico, telling about strong men and the women who understand them. A Question of Faith

It's Retweet Day with #MFRWauthor and #MFRWorg

Retweet Day for #MFRWauthor - Join the fun

For this month's Retweet Day on Twitter, we'd like to invite all Marketing for Romance Writers to set up tweets for their books.

Go into Twitter and create a tweet. Make sure to use #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg

Once the tweet has been posted, click the ... (three dots) in the right hand corner.

This will give you the option to (copy link to tweet). Copy the link and put it in the comment section of this post.

Remember to visit the blog on the second Wednesday of the month and retweet everyone on the list.

Also in an effort to help people find tweets to share of yours, click the ... (three dots) again and pin your tweet to your profile page. This will give you an easy way to find and count how many people retweeted your post.

Don't forget the Rules

1. Have #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg in the tweet. (This retweet day is to promote each other and our group.)

2. Do not use profanity or sexual explicit graphics. Keep it for all age groups.

3. Return on Retweet Day and click each link and share everyone's post on Twitter.

4. Click the G+ symbol on the tweet so you can see where you left off, and to add a little more visibility to the post.

5. No more than 3 hashtags in a post. Any more than this and Twitter might believe it is spam.

Here's to a great day of retweets,

Tina Gayle
www.tinagayle.net
free read
https://www.instafreebie.com/free/EwL6x

Join us at #MFRWauthor and #MFRWorg It's Author Retweet Day

Retweet Day for #MFRWauthor - Join the fun

For this month's Retweet Day on Twitter, we'd like to invite all Marketing for Romance Writers to set up tweets for their books.

Go into Twitter and create a tweet. Make sure to use #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg

Once the tweet has been posted, click the ... (three dots) in the right hand corner.

This will give you the option to (copy link to tweet). Copy the link and put it in the comment section of this post.

Remember to visit the blog on the second Wednesday of the month and retweet everyone on the list.

Also in an effort to help people find tweets to share of yours, click the ... (three dots) again and pin your tweet to your profile page. This will give you an easy way to find and count how many people retweeted your post.

Don't forget the Rules

1. Have #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg in the tweet. (This retweet day is to promote each other and our group.)

2. Do not use profanity or sexual explicit graphics. Keep it for all age groups.

3. Return on Retweet Day and click each link and share everyone's post on Twitter.

4. Click the G+ symbol on the tweet so you can see where you left off, and to add a little more visibility to the post.

5. No more than 3 hashtags in a post. Any more than this and Twitter might believe it is spam.

Here's to a great day of retweets,

Tina Gayle
www.tinagayle.net
free read
https://www.instafreebie.com/free/EwL6x

5 Tips to Avoid Author Burnout @kayelleallen #writertips #amwriting #MFRWauthor

Burnout: Melt, break, or become otherwise unusable. If you've experienced burnout, you know how hard it is on the mind, body, and spirit. No simple process can eliminate it, but even little things can help. 

Burnout is dangerous.

When writers get it, they stop writing. Teachers stop teaching. Mothers stop mothering. Wives stop... well, being wifey. Avoid burnout if possible. If you've got it, deal with it. Here are five things you might not have considered.

Put off decisions.

Rather than say "no" say "I'll think about it." Then write it down, so that your mind isn't busy trying to remember. When burned out, the mind stops being able to focus, so we put off doing things because we don't have the energy or ability to decide. We stress when we have unmade decisions. Listen to your body. Allow yourself the freedom to put off making a decision until you've rested. Write it down and then come back to it later.

Permit yourself to take a break.

Notice that I didn't say "take a break." I said to "permit yourself to do it." One of the reasons we don't fully rest is that we feel guilty for taking time off. When you get away from the computer, or your job, or your family, or whatever is burning you out, let yourself relax. Give yourself mental permission for that break. You'll feel better than if you walk away but then mentally pace until you can get back to your desk.

Put things in order.

Straighten your desk. Make your bed. Fold the towels and put them away. Sweep the kitchen. Wipe down one shelf of the refrigerator. Doing mundane tasks that make your environment neater, cleaner, and more organized can free your mind for other tasks. When you're folding laundry, your mind isn't focused on the task, yet you are accomplishing something important.

Purchase something you've wanted but normally wouldn't have bought.

Not talking about a diamond bracelet, although if you can afford it and want it, then why not? I'm talking about some little thing that you would get as a impulse gift for a friend that you might not indulge in for yourself. I bet when you read that line you thought of something right away. Why not let yourself have it? You deserve a goodie.

Pay attention to something insignificant.

Pet a kitten and notice the underlying stripes in its fur. Feed a goldfish and watch it swim. Toss a ball for a toddler and watch how their legs move when they run. Unwrap a straw and look at the way the paper is fastened around it. These things are minute details, but each has meaning in its own way. Doing this can give your mind the kind of break it needs to think about other things.

Want another source of ideas on handling burnout? I was inspired recently by a blog called The Freedom Experiment. There were many articles on self care. One of them inspired this post.

How do you avoid burnout? Share it in the comments.

---

Kayelle Allen, author of unstoppable heroes and warriors who purr
https://bit.ly/kayelle-books
Twitter https://twitter.com/kayelleallen
Facebook https://facebook.com/kayelleallen.author

Sign Up NOW! #MFRWauthor 52-Week Blog Challenge

It's WEEK 13 of the MFRW 52-week blog challenge!
Blogging is an opportunity for authors to connect with readers. Despite being fiction writers, blogging is an entirely different style of writing and often stumps us. Our challenge is designed to help our authors blog consistently, thoughtfully and with purpose.

Anyone can join at any point in the challenge...  FOLLOW THIS LINK TO LEARN MORE AND JOIN THE CHALLENGE.

This week's writing prompt is "My Greatest Weakness"

Are You Ready?

1. Create your post using the weekly writing prompt. Include this challenge badge in your post.
2. Use #MFRWauthor in your title.
3. Add your post's direct link to the linky list below.
4. Include the linky list code in your post.
5. On Friday, read a few of the other authors' blog posts. Reading other posts gives you great ideas and inspiration. Also take a moment to share them on social media through the links right on the author's post. It increases visibility!

If any MFRW author participating in the challenge is interested in taking on the role of coordinating the weekly post, please let me know in the comments. The blog is seeking experienced blogger users to assist in the management of our blogs.

Sign Up Now.

Week12 WRITING PROMPT: #MFRWauthor Blog Challenge

It's WEEK 12 of the MFRW 52-week blog challenge!
Blogging is an opportunity for authors to connect with readers. Despite being fiction writers, blogging is an entirely different style of writing and often stumps us. Our challenge is designed to help our authors blog consistently, thoughtfully and with purpose.

Anyone can join at any point in the challenge...  FOLLOW THIS LINK TO LEARN MORE AND JOIN THE CHALLENGE.

This week's writing prompt is "My Greatest Strength"

Are You Ready?

1. Create your post using the weekly writing prompt. Include this challenge badge in your post.
2. Use #MFRWauthor in your title.
3. Add your post's direct link to the linky list below.
4. Include the linky list code in your post.
5. On Friday, read a few of the other authors' blog posts. Reading other posts gives you great ideas and inspiration. Also take a moment to share them on social media through the links right on the author's post. It increases visibility!

If any MFRW author participating in the challenge is interested in taking on the role of coordinating the weekly post, please let me know in the comments. The blog is seeking experienced blogger users to assist in the management of our blogs.

Sign Up Now.

SIGN UP NOW! Week 11 of #MFRWauthor Blog Challenge

It's WEEK 11 of the MFRW 52-week blog challenge!
Blogging is an opportunity for authors to connect with readers. Despite being fiction writers, blogging is an entirely different style of writing and often stumps us. Our challenge is designed to help our authors blog consistently, thoughtfully and with purpose.

Anyone can join at any point in the challenge...  FOLLOW THIS LINK TO LEARN MORE AND JOIN THE CHALLENGE.

This week's writing prompt is "Plot Away... My Writing Process"

Are You Ready?

1. Create your post using the weekly writing prompt. Include this challenge badge in your post.
2. Use #MFRWauthor in your title.
3. Add your post's direct link to the linky list below.
4. Include the linky list code in your post.
5. On Friday, read a few of the other authors' blog posts. Reading other posts gives you great ideas and inspiration. Also take a moment to share them on social media through the links right on the author's post. It increases visibility!

Sign Up Now.

#WWoW Building an Author Platform @GingerMonette #MFRWauthor #marketing

Your manuscript is in the hands of your editor, and you've got the big release day circled on your calendar...

What now? Should you start advertising? Tweeting?

It's little early to alert the media, but there are a host of pre-launch “foundations” new authors need to put into place before they release their baby to the world. Let's get right to the checklist.

-Create a new email address to use exclusively for your writing/marketing correspondence. It will keep your emails from bloggers and fans separate from your emails from Aunt Eleanor and Old Navy. With all of your author emails in a separate mailbox, you can see at a glance any unopened correspondence and remind you of emails needing immediate attention.

I suggest using a form of your name or something that identifies your brand. For example, my author email name is SperoBooks. Keep it short, professional, and preferably something that has nothing odd like an underscore. Don't make the mistake of using the title of your book as your email name. It will be passe' when you publish your second book.

-Create a signature line and maybe a ‘one-liner’ that describes in a nutshell what type of romance you write (“Romance with a touch of mystery,” “Broken hearts finding love,” “Romance for the modern girl,” etc). Begin using it on all your emails so your friends, business associates, and writing contacts will know you're an author.

-Research web hosts and build a website. If you're not sure you want to make a long-term financial commitment, choose a free hosting service that has the option to upgrade later. I chose Wix.com as their customer service is pretty good and their site building tools are mostly intuitive.

Before you start designing, look at other authors' websites and take advice from experts like Tim Grahl and Jane Friedman. Make a list of what you like, then make a plan.

-Research which social media platforms will best reach your target audience and start getting active there.

-Develop a bio—a short, middle length, and long one.

-Create an author page on Goodreads and post your bio and headshot there. (When your book goes live, add your bio to your Amazon author pages in ALL the countries where you will be selling.)

-Get a headshot. Add it to your website and to your Amazon and Goodreads author pages. Use it as part of the header of any newsletters as well. Readers are more likely to remember your name if they can attach a face to it.

-Decide if you want to make a video or audio trailer for your book. If so, start working on it. I have one here.

-Will you do a blog tour? If so, research blogs that could be a good fit. Don’t contact yet, just make a spreadsheet that includes blog address, contact email, number of followers, and a few sentences about why it made your list.

-Subscribe to book marketing experts like Nick Stephenson, Tim Grahl, and Chandler Bolt. Take notes from what you read/watch.

-Subscribe to Yahoo groups that focus on marketing for your genre. Two excellent Yahoo groups for romance authors are Marketing for Romance Writers and Indie Romance. (If you simply don't have the time to learn from the experts previously noted, the topics covered on these e-loops will give you an excellent education.)

-Make a list of potential people to be on your launch team who will be willing to leave a review of your book on launch day and share it on their social media. Friends and family are fine if that's all you have, but readers who love your genre are MUCH better.

-Start formulating a long-term (written) marketing plan: Who specifically is your audience? How will you reach them? Will you offer your book for pre-order? What pricing strategies/sales might work well? What book marketing services/promotors look like good fits? What’s your marketing budget? What are good places to advertise?

-Will you need a book cover? If so, what ideas do you have how it should look? Browse stock image sites to find appropriate images. If you are self-publishing, research designers, or choose a service like 99Designs, Upwork.com, Reedsy, or even Fiverr.com if your budget is bare-bones.

-Will you offer some sort of freebie to entice people to sign up for your newsletter or pre-order your book? If so, create it now. For my novel written in an unfamiliar era (WW1), I offer access to an online scrapbook to those who subscribe to my newsletter. (If you have a look, give it a minute or two to load.) Other authors commonly offer a short story, additional chapters, or some other exclusive bonus.

-Will you offer some sort of give-away in conjunction with your book launch? If so, research items that are a good fit (i.e. a tin of Scottish shortbread if you write Scottish Romance)

-Search for images that you could use to create graphic teasers for your book. These sites have free public domain images: Pixabay, Pexels, Unsplash, and Wiki Commons. (Not all Wiki Commons images are licensed for commercial use, but they have oddball stuff you may not find anywhere else.)

-Compile a media kit to have all the necessary advertising elements in one place: Blurb, bio, excerpt, book info, images, etc. Mine is here.

-Choose quotes and excerpts from your book that would make good teasers. Maybe even play around with Canva.com to learn how to make the teasers, Twitter banners, FB headers, etc. (All the graphics in my media kit were created at Canva.com.)

Feeling overwhelmed?

It is a LOT of work, and most of these tasks take an ENORMOUS amount of time. If you have deep pockets, you can hire experts to do many of these tasks for you, but they will still require your input. So start early and give yourself plenty of time. I spent nearly three months just educating myself on current trends in book marketing. (Yeah, I believe in being thorough.) But when I launched my book with a 23-day blog tour, I was able to do it with confidence as I had my marketing foundation firmly in place.

How long did these tasks take you? Did I leave anything out?

I’d love to hear your comments.

THIS POST SUBMITTED BY Ginger Monette

Winner of Charlotte Mecklenburg Library's 2015 “Picture This” grand prize, Ginger currently writes romances set in the era of Downton Abbey and WW1. She lives with her family in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she enjoys dancing on the treadmill, watching period dramas, public speaking, and reading—a full-length novel every Sunday afternoon.

It's Week 10 of #MFRWauthor 52-Week Blog Challenge!

It's WEEK 10 of the MFRW 52-week blog challenge!
Blogging is an opportunity for authors to connect with readers. Despite being fiction writers, blogging is an entirely different style of writing and often stumps us. Our challenge is designed to help our authors blog consistently, thoughtfully and with purpose.

Anyone can join at any point in the challenge...  FOLLOW THIS LINK TO LEARN MORE AND JOIN THE CHALLENGE.

This week's writing prompt is "Seven Guilty Pleasures"

Are You Ready?

1. Create your post using the weekly writing prompt. Include this challenge badge in your post.
2. Use #MFRWauthor in your title.
3. Add your post's direct link to the linky list below.
4. Include the linky list code in your post.
5. On Friday, read a few of the other authors' blog posts. Reading other posts gives you great ideas and inspiration. Also take a moment to share them on social media through the links right on the author's post. It increases visibility!

Sign Up Now.

Discover New #Romance Novels from an #MFRWauthor #MFRWorg

Retweet Day for #MFRWauthor - Join the fun

For this month's Retweet Day on Twitter, we'd like to invite all Marketing for Romance Writers to set up tweets for their books.

Go into Twitter and create a tweet. Make sure to use #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg

Once the tweet has been posted, click the ... (three dots) in the right hand corner.

This will give you the option to (copy link to tweet). Copy the link and put it in the comment section of this post.

Remember to visit the blog on the second Wednesday of the month and retweet everyone on the list.

Also in an effort to help people find tweets to share of yours, click the ... (three dots) again and pin your tweet to your profile page. This will give you an easy way to find and count how many people retweeted your post.

Don't forget the Rules

1. Have #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg in the tweet. (This retweet day is to promote each other and our group.)

2. Do not use profanity or sexual explicit graphics. Keep it for all age groups.

3. Return on Retweet Day and click each link and share everyone's post on Twitter.

4. Click the G+ symbol on the tweet so you can see where you left off, and to add a little more visibility to the post.

5. No more than 3 hashtags in a post. Any more than this and Twitter might believe it is spam.

Here's to a great day of retweets,

Tina Gayle
www.tinagayle.net
free read
https://www.instafreebie.com/free/EwL6x

SIGN UP! It's #MFRWauthor Blog Challenge Week 9!

It's WEEK 9 of the MFRW 52-week blog challenge!
Blogging is an opportunity for authors to connect with readers. Despite being fiction writers, blogging is an entirely different style of writing and often stumps us. Our challenge is designed to help our authors blog consistently, thoughtfully and with purpose.

Anyone can join at any point in the challenge...  FOLLOW THIS LINK TO LEARN MORE AND JOIN THE CHALLENGE.

This week's writing prompt is "Words that make me go Ick!"

Are You Ready?

1. Create your post using the weekly writing prompt. Include this challenge badge in your post.
2. Use #MFRWauthor in your title.
3. Add your post's direct link to the linky list below.
4. Include the linky list code in your post.
5. On Friday, read a few of the other authors' blog posts. Reading other posts gives you great ideas and inspiration. Also take a moment to share them on social media through the links right on the author's post. It increases visibility!

Sign Up Now.

It's Week 8! SIGN UP for #MFRWauthor Blog Challenge

It's WEEK 8 of the MFRW 52-week blog challenge!
Blogging is an opportunity for authors to connect with readers. Despite being fiction writers, blogging is an entirely different style of writing and often stumps us. Our challenge is designed to help our authors blog consistently, thoughtfully and with purpose.

Anyone can join at any point in the challenge...  FOLLOW THIS LINK TO LEARN MORE AND JOIN THE CHALLENGE.

This week's writing prompt is "How I Choose a Book Title"

Are You Ready?

1. Create your post using the weekly writing prompt. Include this challenge badge in your post.
2. Use #MFRWauthor in your title.
3. Add your post's direct link to the linky list below.
4. Include the linky list code in your post.
5. On Friday, read a few of the other authors' blog posts. Reading other posts gives you great ideas and inspiration. Also take a moment to share them on social media through the links right on the author's post. It increases visibility!

Sign Up Now.

Time to Sign Up! #MFRWauthor Blog Challenge Week 7 Prompt

It's WEEK 7 of the MFRW 52-week blog challenge!
Blogging is an opportunity for authors to connect with readers. Despite being fiction writers, blogging is an entirely different style of writing and often stumps us. Our challenge is designed to help our authors blog consistently, thoughtfully and with purpose.

Anyone can join at any point in the challenge...  FOLLOW THIS LINK TO LEARN MORE AND JOIN THE CHALLENGE.

This week's writing prompt is "Music To Write By"

Are You Ready?

1. Create your post using the weekly writing prompt. Include this challenge badge in your post.
2. Use #MFRWauthor in your title.
3. Add your post's direct link to the linky list below.
4. Include the linky list code in your post.
5. On Friday, read a few of the other authors' blog posts. Reading other posts gives you great ideas and inspiration. Also take a moment to share them on social media through the links right on the author's post. It increases visibility!

Sign Up Now.

#MFRWAuthor-to-Author: Research... Necessary but Time Consuming @DMBurton72

Have you ever started researching a topic only to discover you’ve spent the better part of an hour going from one site to another to another? Those pesky side links.

In a HubSpot (a marketing site) article about bad habits, the author wrote about Black Hole Browsing. Although I’d never heard of that term, I knew exactly what it meant. I’ve fallen victim to that bad habit more than once. For example, while researching the topic of cryo-sleep for my novella MISION TO NEW EARTH, I visited way too many sites.

I knew about the body being put into hibernation for long-distance space travel from movies like Avatar, Interstellar, 2001: A Space Odyssey. But I wanted to know more, and before I knew it—Wham!—I’d fallen into that Black Hole.

As a sci-fi writer, I’m not concerned with the mechanics of cryosleep or hibernation. I compare it to an automobile. I don’t know (don’t need to know) how my car works. I just need to know that when I put the key in the ignition, that car will take me where I want to go.

From what I’d read, seen in movies, and researched, I gathered enough info to make the scene of my astronauts going into cryosleep believable. At least, I hope so. Or that the reader can suspend disbelief. I was more concerned with the emotions experienced by the astronauts. Their excitement on being pioneers to a new planet warred with fear of dying in flight. Or, as in the movie Passengers, they could wake up too soon then use too much fuel (for life support, artificial gravity, food, etc.) and not be able to get to the new planet.

For me as a reader, emotions carry more weight than scientific facts. Not to be sexist, but generally men like more facts and science in their stories, while women tend to enjoy the emotional journey the characters go on. My target audience are women who like adventure along with romance. Whether my stories take them to small towns in west Michigan or on a starship into deep space, I need to make sure my facts are straight. Nothing tears me away from a story than one that has inaccurate facts. Hence, my need to research. I just wish I could avoid those pesky side links that take me from one interesting article to another and then to another.

It takes discipline to avoid falling into the Black Hole of browsing. Why? Because when we’re researching we’re not writing.

How about you? Have you ever fallen into the Black Hole of research?

COMMENT BELOW & TALK WITH DIANE.

THIS POST SUBMITTED BY Diane Burton
Diane combines her love of mystery, adventure, science fiction and romance into writing romantic fiction. Besides the science fiction romance Switched and Outer Rim series, she is the author of One Red Shoe, a romantic suspense, and the Alex O’Hara PI mystery series. She is also a contributor to two anthologies: Portals, Volume 2 and How I Met My Husband. Diane and her husband live in West Michigan. They have two children and three grandchildren. 

Diane's newest book is Mission to New Earth, a Science Fiction novel.

Would you go on a one-way trip to explore a new planet? Would you do it to save humankind?

Earth’s overpopulation and dwindling resources force the United Earth Space Agency to expedite exploration of new planets for a possible new home. When new crises ensue—a giant tsunami and the threat of nuclear winter—the timeline changes. Eight years of training crammed into four. Sara Grenard and her team prepare for launch, but are they ready for the one-way trip? Will the Goldilocks planet prove just right for Earth’s inhabitants? Before time runs out.

AMAZON Buy Link!

EXCERPT

As I waited for confirmation from the director, seconds ticked by slower than a melting glacier. The question kept running through my mind. Are we prepared? They shortened our training. Four years instead of eight. My God, what did they leave out?
“Commander Grenard.” Director Ashcroft rose stiffly. “Your team passed the landing simulation.”
I slowly released a breath, when I really wanted to jump up, hug everyone in the booth, and do a happy dance. Instead, I nodded. “Thank you, sir. I’ll share your words with the team.”
As I got up, the technician winked. “Nice job, Sara.”
I smiled. Of all the techs, Roland was the most supportive. He’d been with our team all four years, starting in New Mexico. Back then, we thought we had eight years to prepare. Four years at White Sands before moving to Ares Station on Mars. But a catastrophe prompted the move to Ares two years sooner. We spent a year there instead of two before moving to Titan. Despite Director Ashcroft’s reassurance, I worried. I feared for my team.
We were about to leave on an adventure of a lifetime. Just thinking about how fortunate we were to explore possible new homes for Earth’s inhabitants, I was still awestruck. Giddiness raced through me and with it the ever-present trepidation. What could go wrong? Were we prepared for all eventualities? What if—
I had to stop speculating on the dangers of our mission. My fear could easily infect my team and spread worse than the bout of influenza that devastated three teams before we left Ares. I was certain the other commanders didn’t have my fears. I bet they didn’t have a swarm of bees roiling around in their stomachs.

CONNECT With Diane
Website: http://www.dianeburton.com
Blog: http://dianeburton.blogspot.com/
Twitter:  http://twitter.com/dmburton72
Facebook:  http://facebook.com/dianeburtonauthor

#MFRWauthor 52-Week Blog Challenge... Week 6 Writing Prompt

It's WEEK 6 of the MFRW 52-week blog challenge!
Blogging is an opportunity for authors to connect with readers. Despite being fiction writers, blogging is an entirely different style of writing and often stumps us. Our challenge is designed to help our authors blog consistently, thoughtfully and with purpose.

Anyone can join at any point in the challenge...  FOLLOW THIS LINK TO LEARN MORE AND JOIN THE CHALLENGE.

This week's writing prompt is "My Hobbies"

Are You Ready?

1. Create your post using the weekly writing prompt. Include this challenge badge in your post.
2. Use #MFRWauthor in your title.
3. Add your post's direct link to the linky list below.
4. Include the linky list code in your post.
5. On Friday, read a few of the other authors' blog posts. Reading other posts gives you great ideas and inspiration. Also take a moment to share them on social media through the links right on the author's post. It increases visibility!

Sign Up Now.

Join us at #MFRWauthor and share Author Retweet Day #MFRWorg

Retweet Day for #MFRWauthor - Join the fun

For this month's Retweet Day on Twitter, we'd like to invite all Marketing for Romance Writers to set up tweets for their books.

Go into Twitter and create a tweet . Make sure to use #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg

Once the tweet has been posted, click the ... (three dots) in the right hand corner.

This will give you the option to (copy link to tweet). Copy the link and put it in the comment section of this post.

Remember to visit the blog on the second Wednesday of the month and retweet everyone on the list.

Also in an effort to help people find tweets to share of yours, click the ...(three dots) again and pin your tweet to your profile page. This will give you an easy way to find and count how many people retweeted your post.

Don't forget the Rules

1. Have #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg in the tweet. (This retweet day is to promote each other and our group.)

2. Do not use profanity or sexual explicit graphics. Keep it for all age groups.

3. Return on Retweet Day and click each link and share everyone's post on Twitter.

4. Click the G+ symbol on the tweet so you can see where you left off, and to add a little more visibility to the post.

5. No more than 3 hashtags in a post. Any more than this and Twitter might believe it is spam.

Here's to a great day of retweets,

Tina Gayle
www.tinagayle.net
free read
https://www.instafreebie.com/free/EwL6x

Is it ever too early to market a book? @kayelleallen #MFRWauthor

Should you wait until a book is finished and sold before you try to market it? No. Here's why.

When a new movie comes out, do studios wait until the day it opens to begin telling people about it? No. How many months did people see info about the last Star Wars movie before it came out? Star Wars is a brand stamped across everything associated with the series of films.

Likewise, your brand is something you should always be marketing. What is your brand? Your name. Readers should get to know you by name and associate you with good things. You can't get that by remaining in the shadows.

Overnight success takes a long time.

It's never too early to market a book because the best marketing is developing relationships. Look online for people who have interests similar to yours. For example, I love the Hobbit films, especially the Elven King, Thranduil. I discovered a group on Twitter who regularly share fanart and fanfiction around this character. I've gotten to know them and have added my own fanart to the group. One of the group who features fanart on her site showcased my DeviantArt account where I have the art. That means people can also see my other work, including book covers, banners, and other art related to my story world. You might not have artwork that you can share, but do you have research images? Create a board on your Pinterest account to share them.

Did you ever bookmark articles that helped you make your story more realistic? Did you

read any books that helped you write better? What was the thinking behind the plot of your books? Who are your characters? What is the theme of the story? Blog about the above.

I get thousands of views on my site because I blog. I use the topics above plus others. I don't talk writing on my blog very often, because I'm trying to pull in readers as well as authors (who are also readers, btw). Blog posts are fresh content that keep readers interested in you and your story world. I discovered recently that the largest views of my site are on my blog posts. Only about 8% of visitors go to the other pages. You can bet I changed my blogging strategy!

Do you have a blurb and tagline? If not, write them now. You will use them endlessly. Likewise with your bio. Write it in 4 sizes: twitter bio (160 characters) to use on blog posts, 200 words for your official website and author bio, and one that's about 75-80 to share in interviews. You want a short one (30 words or less) that captures your writing style or tag (I use the one below). You want to say who you are, what you write, a fact about yourself as a person, and optionally, a general idea of your whereabouts (I say the Atlanta GA area). This helps people place you, not pinpoint you. Reuse your basic wording in each version.

Here's my short bio:

Kayelle Allen is a best-selling American author. Her unstoppable heroes and heroines include contemporary every day folk, role-playing immortal gamers, futuristic covert agents, and warriors who purr.

Longer bio:

Science Fiction and Fantasy author Kayelle Allen is the winner of the 2010 EPIC award for Science Fiction, and the 2008 Honorable Mention for Science Fiction Fantasy. Her unstoppable heroes and heroines include contemporary every day folk, role-playing immortal gamers, futuristic covert agents, and warriors who purr. Kayelle is the founder of Marketing for Romance Writers, a peer-mentoring group, and the owner of The Author's Secret, a support company for writers. She is married, has three grown children, and five grandchildren. She and her husband met and married while they were both on active duty in US Navy.

Marketing isn't saying "buy my book" over and over.

The best marketing is sharing, talking, listening. Pick some social media sites you love and get good at them. I love Twitter and do ok on Facebook, and spend lots of time on Pinterest. Build a following now. When you release your book it will be to people who are following because they already like you.

It's never too early to make friends.
----
This post began as a discussion on Marketing for Romance Writers. I invite you to join us. Was this helpful to you? If so, please leave a note in the comments.

Kayelle Allen Social Media

Homeworld/Blog https://kayelleallen.com
Twitter https://twitter.com/kayelleallen
Facebook https://facebook.com/kayelleallen.author
Join the Romance Lives Forever Reader Group Download three free books and get news about books coming soon. One book downloads immediately and two full-color illustrated books arrive the next day. You can unsubscribe at any time.

At the Mercy of Her Pleasure (Available at Amazon, free on Kindle Unlimited)

Ready to SIGN UP for #MFRWauthor Blog Challenge?

It's WEEK 5 of the MFRW 52-week blog challenge!
Blogging is an opportunity for authors to connect with readers. Despite being fiction writers, blogging is an entirely different style of writing and often stumps us. Our challenge is designed to help our authors blog consistently, thoughtfully and with purpose.

Anyone can join at any point in the challenge...  FOLLOW THIS LINK TO LEARN MORE AND JOIN THE CHALLENGE.

This week's prompt is "Meet My Best Friend".

Are You Ready?

1. Create your post using the weekly writing prompt. Include this challenge badge in your post.
2. Use #MFRWauthor in your title.
3. Add your post's direct link to the linky list below.
4. Include the linky list code in your post.
5. On Friday, read a few of the other authors' blog posts. Reading other posts gives you great ideas and inspiration. Also take a moment to share them on social media through the links right on the author's post. It increases visibility!

Sign Up Now.

SIGN UP for Week4 of the #MFRWauthor 52-week Blog Challenge!

It's WEEK 4 of the MFRW 52-week blog challenge.
Blogging is an opportunity for authors to connect with readers. Despite being fiction writers, blogging is an entirely different style of writing and often stumps us. Our challenge is designed to help our authors blog consistently, thoughtfully and with purpose. Anyone can join at any point in the challenge...  FOLLOW THIS LINK TO LEARN MORE AND JOIN THE CHALLENGE.

This week's prompt is "Sorry Editor! My Common Writing Mistakes".

Are You Ready?

1. Create your post using the weekly writing prompt. Include this challenge badge in your post.
2. Use #MFRWauthor in your title.
3. Add your post's direct link to the linky list below.
4. Include the linky list code in your post.
5. On Friday, read a few of the other authors' blog posts. Reading other posts gives you great ideas and inspiration. Also take a moment to share them on social media through the links right on the author's post. It increases visibility!

Sign Up Now.

#MFRWauthor 52-Week #Blog Challenge: Week 3 Writing Prompt... Have you signed up?

It's WEEK 3 of the MFRW 52-week blog challenge.
Blogging is an opportunity for authors to connect with readers. Despite being fiction writers, blogging is an entirely different style of writing and often stumps us. Our challenge is designed to help our authors blog consistently, thoughtfully and with purpose.

This week's prompt is TV Shows I Binge.

FOLLOW THIS LINK TO LEARN MORE AND JOIN THE CHALLENGE.

Are You Ready?

1. Use the weekly writing prompt to create your post. Include this challenge badge in your post.
2. Use #MFRWauthor in your title, and be original - don't use "week #1 of 52-week challenge" because that's not unique and won't drive readers to your post. Be creative!
3. Add your post's direct link to the linky list below. Be sure to use the post's direct link - not your blog home page.
4. Include the linky list code to the top of your post.
5. On Friday, read a few of the other authors' blog posts. Reading other posts gives you great ideas and inspiration. Also take a moment to share them on social media through the links right on the author's post. It increases visibility!

Do You Have a Buddy Yet?
If you haven't already been assigned a buddy, comment below and we can match you up.

VERY IMPORTANT: check in with your buddy... encourage them to post, read their blog post (even if you don't get to any others), and share it on social media.

Sign Up Now.

Join Us! It's Week 2! #MFRWauthor 52-Week Blog Challenge

It's WEEK 2 of the MFRW 52-week blog challenge.
Blogging is an opportunity for authors to connect with readers. Despite being fiction writers, blogging is an entirely different style of writing and often stumps us. Our challenge is designed to help our authors blog consistently, thoughtfully and with purpose.

This week's prompt is HOW MY FAMILY SURVIVES MY WRITING.

It's not too late to join the challenge! FOLLOW THIS LINK to read the original
challenge post to get details.

Are You Ready?

1. Use the weekly writing prompt to create your post. Include the challenge badge in your post.
2. Use #MFRWauthor in your title, and be original - don't use "week #1 of 52-week challenge" because that's not unique and won't drive readers to your post. Be creative!
3. Add your post's direct link to the linky list below. Be sure to use the post's direct link - not your blog home page.
4. Include the linky list code to the top of your post.
5. On Friday, read a few of the other authors' blog posts. Reading other posts gives you great ideas and inspiration!

Celebrate the New Year with #MFRWauthor and #MFRW_Org Retweet Day

Retweet Day for #MFRWauthor - Join the fun

For this month's Retweet Day on Twitter, we'd like to invite all Marketing for Romance Writers to set up tweets for their books.

Go into Twitter and create a tweet . Make sure to use #MFRWauthor or MFRW_Org

Once the tweet has been posted. Click on the ... (three dots) in the right hand corner.

This will give you the option to (copy link to tweet). Copy this link and put it in the comment section of this post.

Remember to visit the blog on second Wednesday of the month and retweet everyone on the list.

Also in an effort to help people find tweets to share of yours, click the ...(three dots) again and pin your tweet to your profile page. This will give you a count of how many people retweeted your post.

Don't forget the Rules

1. Have #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg in the tweet. (This retweet day is to promote each other and our group.)

2. Do not use profanity or sexual explicit graphics. Keep it clean for all age groups.

3. Return on Retweet Day and click each link and share everyone's post on twitter.

4. Click the G+ symbol on the tweet so you can see where you left off, and to add a little more visibility to the post.

5. No more than 3 hashtags in a post. Anymore than this and Twitter believes it is spam.

Here's to a great day of retweets,

Tina Gayle
www.tinagayle.net
free read
https://www.instafreebie.com/free/EwL6x

#MFRWauthor Blog Challenge Week1 Theme: A Few of my Favorite Things

It's WEEK ONE of the MFRW 52-week blog challenge.
Blogging is an opportunity for authors to connect with readers. Despite being fiction writers, blogging is an entirely different style of writing and often stumps us. Our challenge is designed to help our authors blog consistently, thoughtfully and with purpose.

This week's prompt is A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS.

All authors with blogs can participate. It's very simple! FOLLOW THIS LINK to read the original challenge post to get details.

Are You Ready?

1. Use the weekly writing prompt to create your post. Include the challenge badge in your post.
2. Use #MFRWauthor in your title, and be original - don't use "week #1 of 52-week challenge" because that's not unique and won't drive readers to your post. Be creative!
3. Add your post's direct link to the linky list below. Be sure to use the post's direct link - not your blog home page.
4. Include the linky list code to the top of your post.
5. On Friday, read a few of the other authors' blog posts. Reading other posts gives you great ideas and inspiration!

Why We Read (and Write) Romance @kayelleallen #MFRWauthor #amwriting

Writing is not simply an act. It's a passion. For writers of Romance, it's even more than that. Romance an escapist story and a momentary thrill - yes. But it's also structure for plot and character development, theme, setting, and social commentary.

Here's my personal list of reasons to read (and write) Romance.

• Falling in love is a wonderful feeling, and watching someone fall in love is the next best thing.
• Seeing a hero and heroine overcome conflict and end up together at the end of a story makes me feel good.
• The world is full of sad stories and disappointments, but the happy ending of a Romance book is something I can count on.
• There is a subgenre within Romance for any kind of book I want to read, from Science Fiction to historical, paranormal to suspense, and everything in between.
• I like reading about wounded alpha heroes whose heroines help them get back on the horse and get going again.
• Tough and sassy heroines who kick ass and take names make my day, and my favorite Romances always feature them.
• What could be finer than a Romance set in the Highlands of Scotland?
• I grew up reading Science Fiction, and never understood why the book stopped just when the story got to the sexy part -- SciFi Romance is one of my favorite genres.
• Romances are often part of a bigger story -- battling a monster, saving the world, defeating prejudice, healing a family -- and they make the bigger picture worth more because they showcase true love.
• A romantic heroine who realizes her own worth, power, and strength, and who finds herself working side by side with a man she trusts are priceless.
• One of the most intriguing subgenres of Romance is called M/M, or male male, and features two heroes. I think if a little testosterone is good, a lot must be awesome.
• Is there anything sexier than a vampire who falls in love, and must overcome his clawing, innate hungers in order to woo the mortal he loves?
• The heat level of a Romance can be whatever I want it to be, because within all those varying subgenres is a level of sensuality that is right for me. They can be as sweet -- or as hot -- as I want to read. 

Why do you read and/or write Romance? Please share in the comments.

About the Author
Kayelle Allen is a best-selling American author. Her unstoppable heroes and heroines include contemporary every day folk, role-playing immortal gamers, futuristic covert agents, and warriors who purr. She is the founder of Marketing for Romance Writers.
Homeworld/Blog https://kayelleallen.com
Twitter https://twitter.com/kayelleallen
Facebook https://facebook.com/kayelleallen.author

JOIN The 2017 #MFRWauthor 52-Week Blog Challenge!

Blogging is an opportunity for authors to connect with readers. Despite being writers, blogging is an entirely different style of writing and often stumps us. To help our authors blog consistently, thoughtfully and with purpose, Marketing for Romance Writers is announcing the 2017 Blog Challenge. Each week, authors use our writing prompt to create a meaningful blog post. We'll be posting every Friday... join us as often as possible.

All authors with blogs are welcome to participate. It's very simple!

1. Sign up in the comments below to commit to the challenge. You will be "buddied" up with another author for support.
2. Copy the badge onto your blog's sidebar. Share it on your social media networks. Be sure to link it back to this page.
3. Write your weekly blog post based on the given prompt. Use #MFRWauthor in your title, and be original - don't use "week 2 of 52-week challenge" because that is not unique and won't drive readers to your post.
4. Return to the MFRW Marketing Blog weekly to add your blog post to the linky list. This will be available each Tuesday for that week's posts. When adding your link, use the post's direct link - not your blog home page.

Celebrate the Holidays with #RomanceNovels from #MFRWauthor @MFRW_Org

Retweet Day for #MFRWauthor - Join the fun

For this month's Retweet Day on Twitter, we'd like to invite all Marketing for Romance Writers to set up tweets for their books.

Go into Twitter and create a tweet . Make sure to use #MFRWauthor or MFRW_Org

Once the tweet has been posted. Click on the ... (three dots) in the right hand corner.

This will give you the option to (copy link to tweet). Copy this link and put it in the comment section of this post.

Remember to visit the blog on November 9 and retweet everyone on the list.

Also in an effort to help people find tweets to share of yours, click the ...(three dots) again and pin your tweet to your profile page. This will give you a count of how many people retweeted your post.

Don't forget the Rules

1. Have #MFRWauthor or #MFRWorg in the tweet. (This retweet day is to promote each other and our group.)

2. Do not use profanity or sexual explicit graphics. Keep it clean for all age groups.

3. Return on Retweet Day and click each link and share everyone's post on twitter.

4. Click the G+ symbol on the tweet so you can see where you left off, and to add a little more visibility to the post.

5. No more than 3 hashtags in a post. Anymore than this and Twitter believes it is spam.

Here's to a great day of retweets,

Tina Gayle
www.tinagayle.net
free read
https://www.instafreebie.com/free/EwL6x