Author-to-Author: Using Goodreads @HelenaFairfax #MFRWauthor

How to use Goodreads as an Author
Earlier this year Harper Collins and Harlequin held an online Romance Festival (http://romance-festival.com/) in the UK. One of the topics discussed was how to make better use of Goodreads as an author. I already have a Goodreads author page  - CLICK HERE. Feel free to friend or follow me. I list all my books read. I have over a hundred reviews of my books with an average rating of 4.5, which “isn’t too shabby,” as my nephew would say. I also love adding and rating books I’ve read myself, too, and checking out other listings and reviews. Apart from that, though, I don’t connect with people as I should, and I’m sure I could make better use of Goodreads.

During the Romance Festival, Cynthia Shannon, marketing co-ordinator at Goodreads, answered questions live in this post on Facebook - CLICK HERE, and Goodreads librarian, Julie Whitely wrote an excellent post on Understanding Goodreads for the Romance Festival blog.

What I learned from both was invaluable, and I’m determined to start using Goodreads much more productively.

Here are the main facts/tips I came away with:
• Goodreads is used by an incredible 25 million readers. That’s a phenomenal audience of people who love books, who are looking for great books to read, and who are discussing and debating new releases.
• Goodreads has had a bad press in some quarters for allowing trolling and author bullying.  In my limited experience so far, though, people have reached out to me and been willing to make friends and discuss books. Of course there are the exceptions, unfortunately, but as Julie Whitely points out, “Any site that encourages readers to read more and get involved can’t be all bad.”
• Goodreads is a reader site – it’s not there for author promo. But if I want to promote my own book, how do I go about it? One suggestion was to choose a few reader groups, join them, and more or less promote by stealth. I feel quite uncomfortable doing this! I’d sooner just join reader groups and be me – a reader who writes romance novels. So if anyone reading this post has any suggestions for groups I’d enjoy, I’d love to hear from you!
• If you do join a group, read the guidelines about promotion. Julie Whitely says “Nearly every single genre specific or discussion group has a folder for book promotions. Find that folder and use it to tell readers about a sale, a promotion, a new release or whatever else you want to share. Post in that folder only.” I hadn’t realised this about the folders. I’ll check this one out, as I feel more comfortable doing this than promoting in front of an actual group. But do people actually read the entries in the folders? I suppose it’s worth a try!
• You can link your Facebook author page to Goodreads. I already have a Goodreads tab on my FB page. Whether anyone has ever actually clicked through from the tab to go to Goodreads is another question. You can also add a Goodreads widget to your FB page, but I’ve struggled to understand how to do this. Is it worth the effort of working it out, I wonder?
• You can also add Goodreads author widgets to your blog.
• You can add your blog feed to your Goodreads author page
• You can add an “Ask the Author” box to your Goodreads author page, which is there to invite readers to ask you any questions they like. I have done this a while ago. So far, no one has asked me anything. Please go to my Goodreads page and ask me a question! :) Even what did I have for tea. Just so I can know it was all worthwhile!
• There’s also a section called Listopia, which enables you or your fans either to create or add one of your books to a list. That doesn’t mean add your book to a list that says “Best books of the 21st century” – no one likes a braggart – but a list that tells the plain facts is OK.

For example a long while ago I added my novel The Silk Romance to a list of romances set in France/ Belgium/ Luxembourg. Since then – other readers have voted for it! It’s now 1st out of 239 books. I only realised this when I went to check the list right now. So exciting to see it top of the list! But has anyone bought my book because of it, though? This is what I don’t know. But again, it can’t hurt, and it doesn’t require a lot of effort to add your own book to a list.

• The most important tip of all I learned was the importance to authors of listing your book in the giveaway program. LEARN HOW HERE.  Authors who host a giveaway of their books can expect to receive on average over 800 readers entering their giveaway.
So from the Festival I’ve picked up quite a few tips – some I knew already, some were news to me. I’ve also learned just how much reach Goodreads has.

Do you use Goodreads as an author? As a reader? If so, which aspects do you use and like? Is there anything you don’t like about it? What other advice would you give?

If you have any questions or comments at all, I’d love to hear from you!
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Contributed by MFRW Author Helena Fairfax
Helena was born in Uganda and came to England as a child. She's grown used to the cold now, and these days she lives in an old Victorian mill town in Yorkshire, in the north of England. After many years working in factories and dark, satanic mills, Helena has become a full-time writer of contemporary romance. Her first novel, The Silk Romance, was a contender for the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme Award and a runner-up in the Global Ebook Awards 2014. A Way from Heart to Heart is her latest release.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HelenaFairfax
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HelenaFairfax
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/helenafairfax/
Blog: www.helenafairfax.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7082986.Helena_Fairfax

Helena's newest book is A Way from Heart to Heart, a Young Adult Romance, with Accent Press. A knock at the door shatters Kate Hemingway’s life when she’s informed of her husband Stuart’s death in Afghanistan. She struggles to care for their young son George with only Stuart’s aloof best friend Paul as emotional support.

Piece by fragile piece, she tries to rebuild her life, realising Paul and her son have formed an unlikely bond. When Paul agrees to accompany Kate and a group of disadvantaged teenagers on a trip to the Yorkshire moors, he finally reveals something he’s kept secret for years. Kate’s own scarred heart begins to open up … but can she risk her son’s happiness as well as her own?

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#MFRWauthor -to-Author: Who Am I? Author Branding @Kris_Bock

Who I Am: Author Branding
Walk through a grocery store. Chances are you can spot your favorite products from the colors and style of the packaging. Drive down the highway. Does your stomach rumble when you see the familiar Golden Arches of a fast food restaurant?  That's successful branding.

Branding authors seems like more of a challenge, but the basic principle is the same. You want readers to have an instant reaction to your name and cover style. Authors can also take advantage of genre branding by matching the kinds of titles and covers a genre typically uses.

Developing your brand helps readers find you. It lets readers know what to expect when they pick up your books. And whether you like it or not, you already have a brand if you are anywhere on the Internet. People get an impression when they browse your website or Facebook page, or read your tweets. Why not control that impression?

Study other authors in your genre. Look at the colors, imagery, language, and fonts on their social media sites and publicity materials. What impression do you get? Can you identify the genre and target audience? Does it fit the work?

Studying other authors' sites should give you ideas for your own branding. Then it's simply a matter of being honest about yourself and your work. If your books are humorous, your social media presence should be playful. If your work is lyrical and poetic, take the time to make sure your Facebook posts and tweets have the same feel. If you write nonfiction, use keywords that people will search for if they want to find something like your work. For fiction, come up with a good tagline to give people an impression of your books.

If you write in a variety of genres, or for a variety of ages, look for common themes. Do you always have strong female characters? Do you bring humor to everything you write? Do you explore history in fiction and nonfiction?

You may also want to focus your brand on only some of your work. For example, I do a lot of educational nonfiction on a work-for-hire basis. I don't promote this, since I don't get royalties. I also teach writing workshops and offer critiques. One tab of one of my websites focuses on that, but the rest of my branding focuses on my fiction.

In some cases, you might be better off creating more than one brand. I write romantic suspense novels for adults as Kris Bock, and children's books as Chris Eboch. While maintaining two websites and two Facebook pages is a hassle, I didn't want young readers accidentally getting my sexier adult books. The separation also allows me to brand each persona differently. My Kris Bock website’s mysterious red background suggests danger and passion. My tagline ""Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Adventures"" hints at my characters and plots. For my Chris Eboch children’s book site, an antique paper background references the past, appropriate to both my historical fiction and my ghost stories. On both sites, I use travel and outdoor photos, branding myself as adventurous.

If you are newly published, don't tie your brand too closely to your first work. Think about the elements that are likely to reappear throughout your career. In addition, look for elements that people will enjoy or find useful. If you write cozy mysteries about a caterer, offer recipes on your blog. If your children's books are suited for classroom use, provide free materials for teachers. If you write inspirational romances, share inspiring news stories or blog about maintaining a happy marriage. Give people a reason to visit, rather than focusing on ""buy my book.""

This may sound like a lot of work, and it is, at the beginning. But once you have figured out your brand, you can use those elements across social media. Get an appropriate, professional-looking headshot and use it everywhere. Use the same color scheme, tagline, and keywords for business cards, post cards, bookmarks, social media networks, your blog, and even your e-mail signature. Collect all the material in a convenient place, and you can quickly create an author page on whatever new media site comes along.

Branding comes down to a simple principle:
Know who you are and share it with the world.

Questions to help you develop your brand:

• Who is your ideal audience?
• What is your message? What themes do you address? 
• What is your attitude? 
• How do you want to be known? 
• What words and phrases would you like people to associate with you? 
• What colors and images suit those elements?
• Where do you hope to be in five years? Ten years? How will that affect your branding?
• How do authors with a similar genre/audience express their brand?

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Contributed by MFRW Author Kris Bock
Kris writes novels of suspense and romance involving outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. Counterfeits features an art theft that brings danger to a small New Mexico town. Whispers in the Dark follows a young archaeologist who stumbles into peril as mysteries unfold among ancient Southwest ruins. What We Found is a mystery with romantic elements about a young woman who finds a murder victim in the woods. The Mad Monk’s Treasure features two friends and a handsome helicopter pilot hunting for a long-lost treasure in New Mexico. Read excerpts at www.krisbock.com or visit her Amazon page.

Kris Bock's latest book is The Mad Monk’s Treasure, a Romantic Suspense, with Pig River Press.
The lost Victorio Peak treasure is the stuff of legends—a heretic Spanish priest’s gold mine, made richer by the spoils of bandits and an Apache raider. When Erin, a quiet history professor, uncovers a clue that may pinpoint the lost treasure cave, she prepares for adventure. But when a hit and run driver nearly kills her, she realizes she’s not the only one after the treasure. And is the handsome pilot who found her bleeding in a ditch really a hero, or one of the enemy?

REVIEW

"Oh my wow! You've heard people say you gotta read this book...well for this one, it's true!! The story is worth the read (not a page turner, but a page burner) and the characters are awesome! Can't wait to read more from this author!" – Kathia 

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Author-to-Author with #MFRWauthor Thea Dawson: Proofing Your Book @AeroplaneMedia #amediting

Best Eyes Forward: How to Proof Your Own Work
I'm going to pass along some tips that I've picked up from my other life as a professional copy editor on proofing your own work.

Now, obviously you want to hire a proofreader whenever possible because it's very, very difficult to proof your own work. But you can save time and money if your manuscript is very clean to begin with, and you'll be more likely to pick up anything your proofreader misses if you try some—or, if you're feeling ambitious, all—of these tricks:

1. Try to leave some time in between readings, several days or a week if possible, so that you can approach the manuscript with fresh eyes.

2. Double space your manuscript and view it at 200+%. It may sound silly, but you're more likely to see mistakes if they're large.

3. Switch to a different font and font color every time you do a read through. Try switching between serif and sans serif fonts.

4. In the same vein, try reading your manuscript in different formats: laptop, Kindle, iPad, etc.

5. Read chapters out of order. Better yet, if you have the patience for it, begin at the end of each chapter and read backwards, one sentence at a time.

6. If you know you're prone to certain mistakes (such as lay v. laid or typing “hte” for “the”), do a search specifically for those words.

7. Use your writing software's grammar/spell check. It won't catch everything (and it will catch a lot of things that aren't mistakes), but it will usually catch at least a few errors.

8. Use text to speech software or the Kindle Fire's text-to-speech function to have your book read aloud to you. You'll often catch missing words or odd word order.

You’ll notice that a lot of these tips center around disruption. Your brain gets complacent reading the same thing over and over again; changing the manuscript helps you experience it as something fresh and new. Don't be afraid to experiment and see what works best for you.

I’d love to hear any other tips writers have on proofing their own work!
___________________________

Thea Dawson

Thea Dawson has lived in Rome, Tokyo and London and spent much of her twenties traveling around some of the more exotic corners of the globe. She was finally talked into settling down when her boyfriend proposed to her in Angkor Wat, Cambodia. Now she’s stateside again and embarking on a new career as a writer. Inspired by the places she's been and the people she met on the way, she plans to tell tales of romance and adventure.

website  |  twitter  |  goodreads  |  google+

Wanderlust

A writer and world traveler, Monica has everything she wants … except a free-spirited man to join her for life on the road. But when she bumps into Jason, who broke her heart in college, she lets him think she’s engaged. It wouldn’t take much to fall for him again—and that’s one road she doesn’t want to go down.

Jason dreams of the day he can quit his terrible job. Then he runs into Monica, the girl he never got over. Thinking she’s marrying a wealthy financier, he pretends he’s an ambitious career man in order to impress her.

Old feelings resurface, but Monica has trust issues and Jason doesn’t like risks. To top it off, Monica is leaving for Bangkok in two weeks—and she won’t be back soon. Time is running out for them to come to terms with the past and embrace their wanderlust.

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Author-To-Author: First Page Check List #MFRWauthor @RuthACasie #amwriting

A First Page Check List
I've been catching up with my inbox. It was getting out of hand. Between being in my cave writing, Thanksgiving and the holidays well, lets just say I needed an intervention. 

One of the gems I unearthed was a post by Ray Rhamey of the Flogged Quill. (follow the link to see original article)




The Challenge: Does This Narrative Compel You To Turn the Page?
It's the first page that grabs the reader. Many times its the first sentence.

Here is Ray's first-page checklist:

• It begins connecting the reader with the protagonist.
• Something is happening. On a first page, this does NOT include a character musing about whatever.
• What happens is dramatized in an immediate scene with action and description plus, if it works, dialogue.
• What happens moves the story forward.
• What happens has consequences for the protagonist.
• The protagonist desires something.
• The protagonist does something.
• There's enough of a setting to orient the reader as to where things are happening.
• It happens in the NOW of the story.
• Backstory? What backstory? We're in the NOW of the story.
• Set-up? What set-up? We're in the NOW of the story.
• What happens raises a story question-what happens next? or why did that happen?

I remember the first draft of my first story. I eagerly read it at literary group meeting to three well published authors. I had worked hard on the story especially the opening. I saw it as a movie. The first thing I see in a movie is the setting. So, I diligently, and meticulously, described the scene.

Are you laughing? They loved the description. They told me to save it for someplace else but to come up with something more compelling. It was replaced with a fight scene.

Let's Talk About It.
Think about some of the books you've read or written. How did they begin? What did you like, or not like about it?

Post contributed by Ruth A. Casie
Ruth writes contemporary and historical fantasy romance for Carina Press, Harlequin and Timeless Scribes Publishing. Formerly from Brooklyn, New York, she lives in New Jersey with her very supportive husband Paul.

Her latest book is Knight of Rapture, a Historical PNR Fantasy, with Timeless Scribes Publishing.

For months Lord Arik has been trying to find the precise spell to rescue his wife, Rebeka, but the druid knight will soon discover that reaching her four hundred years in the future is the easiest part of his quest. 

Bran, the dark druid, follows Arik across the centuries, tireless in his quest for revenge. He’ll force Arik to make a choice, return to save his beloved family and home or stay in the 21st century and save Rebeka. He can’t save them both.

Rebeka Tyler has no recollection of where she’s been the past five months. On top of that, ownership of her home, Fayne Manor, is called into question. When accidents begin to happen it looks more and more like she is the target. Further complicating things is the strange man who conveniently appears wherever trouble brews—watching her, perhaps even….protecting her? Or is he a deliberate attempt to distract her? Rebeka can only be sure of one thing—her family name and manor have survived for over eleven centuries. She won’t let them fall… in any century.

website  |  blog  |  twitter 

How Authors Use Twitter @kayelleallen #MFRWauthor #UsingTwitter

My Twitter "Cover" Banner  

Twitter is an excellent place to get news about the writing and publishing industries. The program is easy -- like most things -- once you understand what you're doing. Let's walk through the basics of how to use the site.

This tutorial assumes you have already created an account. If you haven't done that yet, stop and create one now.

Here's a principle to follow on every social media: use your author name. You should always be findable by the name on your book covers.

Tips for Names

You cannot use a space on Twitter. Put your first and last name together. If your name has been taken already, consider adding an underscore (first_lastname) or add one to the beginning or end (_firstlastname OR firstlastname_). You could also add author to the end (firstlastnameauthor OR firstlastname_author) depending on the length of your name. There is a limit to the number of characters.

Do not use the word author first (authorfirstlastname). Why not? Because when someone tries to mention you on Twitter, they will write your name with the @ symbol in front of it (which triggers Twitter to find and link your account). If your name is @authorfirstlastname and they type @firstlastname -- you will not come up in the search. What comes up if they write @author and then begin to look for your name is a list of all people (in alphabetical order) who used author as the first part of their handle. If your name begins with AA or numbers, you might be viewable easily. If not, good luck! It might be pages before they see your name, assuming they stick around that long. Remember: always be findable by your author name.

Log in and Try This

If you already have an account, log in, then click Notifications. You'll see anyone who mentioned you.

Within the rows or boxes that hold tweets, you'll see a star icon. Click that to favorite (like) the tweet. It shows the person who shared your post that you saw it. It's like a thank you.

To send it out to your own followers, click the two arrows (similar to a recycle symbol). A box pops up. There's a place to comment (you can say "Thanks for sharing" or whatever you might like). Then click the Retweet button.

To reply (if you don't want to retweet) click the single arrow. Write your message, and then click Tweet.

To follow, click the person's name. A box pops up about them. Click the Follow button.

To send a tweet to a person, or to mention them, type a short note, and then type the @ symbol. Begin typing their name immediately after the symbol (mine is @kayelleallen). If you are already following them, their name will show up as a possibility, and you can choose it to have it enter for you. When you reply or retweet, it will go to them without having to add their name. Try a few and see how you do. :)

If you like to read about a specific thing, use a hashtag (#) to search for it. For example, if you love Lord of the Rings, or the Hobbit -- use #LOTR or #Hobbit. In Twitter, go to the search bar (upper right) and type one of those. Hit return, or click the magnifying glass in the search bar. Tweets from anyone who used the term you searched for will show up. Try it with almost any word (no spaces) and you will see the possibilities. The popular searches for writers are many. Try these:

·                     #amwriting

·                     #amediting

·                     #writing

·                     #romance

·                     #suspense

There are whole books on Twitter, but this gives you the basics. Give Twitter a try. It's a lot of fun and you will have a new way to reach your readers and friends. Besides... it's also a great way to keep up with favorite TV shows, movies, music, sports, and anything else that interests you.

===
Kayelle Allen (who follows the #Thranduil and #Loki hashtags)

Author of the Tarthian Empire Companion, a World-Building Bible and Guide to Writing a Science Fiction Series
Amazon http://bit.ly/companion-az Smashwords http://bit.ly/companion-sm
Website http://kayelleallen.mobi Blog http://kayelleallen.com/blog
Twitter http://twitter.com/kayelleallen Facebook http://facebook.com/kayelleallen.author
Google+ https://plus.google.com/+KayelleAllen/