Not to mention I'm late with posting this. I'm sorry, my life got crazy (though I don't have any broken fingers like Mia, sooo really I have no excuse). This is another post about marketing and how important it is. Are you tired of us talking about it yet? Yes? Too bad.
So here's the deal. I read a marketing book and thought, oh yeah these are great ideas, but I'm doing most of them. But then over the past month, I noticed one thing here and there dropping off. Eventually I was just left with twitter and I let that die too. A few weeks ago, I sat down and asked myself, why? Why did I let it just drop off, I was doing well, the numbers were are least moving. What on earth was I thinking?
The conclusion? Not enough hours in the day. Like I mentioned, my life is crazy, it's gotten crazier since my last post on how I work my schedule. How? Try this on for size: I start a nanny job tomorrow, I'm attending school, and I'm freelancing. Yep. That's just the addendum to my list, I'll spare you the rest of it. So what did I decide to do? I had to sit down and make a choice:
Do I let myself drowned and fade into the background? Or do I start kicking and swimming again? I'm choosing to swim. The last two weeks I've pretty much ignore all my social media, except for little updates here and there, but no true marketing. I have a notebook now, on one side is one personality's marketing plan, on the other is the other personality. I do this because each pen name caters to a different cliental. What's in the notebook?
A schedule for Twitter: Themes for each day, what will be advertised and at what times, and a meme to follow for the day. *note* I only actually advertise every 3rd post or so. Why? So it doesn't seem like I"m spamming people, because that's not fun, it annoys everyone.
A schedule for Facebook: Similar to Twitter, I have Themes for each day, what to advertise and times. I get to work a little more freely with this one because I'm not limited to characters.
Google +: A bit on what I want to do on G+ every day.
You see the three above are very similar, yes, but each theme is different everyday and do not mimic each other. Would it be easier to have the same post on every social media, yes, but as a reader that annoys me...if it annoys me, it annoys someone else. So that being said, I don't do it that way.
What else is in the notebook? Current books, current number of reviews, current number of followers or likes. Why? So I can see where I need improvement or where the numbers are actually moving. There's also a spot for what I want to do on my blog. That is an important factor. I also have goals, because without them I have no sense of achievement for all my hard work.
WOW! But you said there's not enough hours in the day! It's true, there's not, but I'll be pre-scheduling everything I can so it runs without me. You may think that's cheating, but here's the deal...until I can hire someone to do it for me, I'm doing it that way. I'll still be checking in to respond to readers/followers questions and comments, but scheduling saves me a ton of time.
So that's how I'm getting back on the marketing horse! Here's hoping I can hit those goals!
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
A note on review bloggers
So being a review blogger and an author gives me a chance to
see things from both sides of the equations. We’ve all seen it, authors moaning
and groaning about bad reviews from bloggers or readers. We all know my stance
on that. (If not it boils down to this: put your big person panties on and get
over it. You’re a professional) I may be beating a dead horse here, but I keep
in contact with other review bloggers and I’ve seen and heard some interesting
stories about authors. Okay, so authors here’s the deal…Review bloggers are not
your friends. Got it? You can’t hand them a book an expect them to lie to you,
even if you’ve built a good relationship with them.
I just heard you gasp. If they aren’t our friends, what are
they? Think of them almost as a boss. No they don’t get to tell you what to do,
but let’s face it, they get to judge the work you do. You go and you write a
nice letter asking them to read this book, you make it appeal to them, you want
them to review it. Some blogs have a policy that if they rate it under a
particular amount of stars, they will let you know first and you can say if
they can post it or not. (You will find no such policy here at SPE) As an
author I think that defeats the purpose of sending it to a review blog.
I am sending my book to a stranger (if it’s the first time
that blog has read one of my books) I may be sending it to someone I consider a
friend. But they are a review blog first, I expect that they tell me the truth
about the book. If I want an ego stroke, I’d got to someone who feels obligated
to lie to me. (We all have those friends.) Giving me a chance to say no or yes
to posting a review tricks the readers into thinking that all blogs will only
give me a certain rating or higher. As a reader, that pisses me off. I’m the
person who reads the bad reviews to see what I’m getting into.
As a blogger I don’t think it’s a good policy, which is why
you won’t find it here at SPE. Authors say they want honest reviews, that is
what they are going to get. Readers deserve to see those 1 or 2 star ratings.
The problem is that there are mobs out there so quick and ready to label
reviewers as bullies because of low ratings. That is not right and is a whole
other blog on it’s own. That being said, author’s if bloggers give you a choice
and a low ratings, suck it up. Do not be rude back to them. They have spent
their time reading your book. Just because they didn’t like that one doesn’t
meant they won’t like the next. Being a pompous twat isn’t going to help your
relationship with them. And by the way, just like authors talk so do bloggers.
My point is. You are an author, learn to take feed back and
deal with it. You don’t get to screen your readers’ reviews, why should you get
to screen your review blog reviews? Honest feed back, it’s what we need.
Remember, especially as an indie author, you’d be no where without your
readers. Your readers turn to those bloggers, if they shut down because of rude
authors, you’re only hurting yourself.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Spotlight: Ashley Nemer's Blood Green
The Art of Safkhet Presents – ASHLEY
NEMER
BLOOD GREEN
April 28th,
2014
The three worlds have collided and are coming to an end. Zayn
and Nikole face off for the final battle with Haydar and Leigh in a match to
the death.
Who will come out alive, and who will come out in the afterlife?
Good does not always triumph over evil, and in the Algula world,
that is even more true.
Life as they know it is forever changed when heads roll.
Will Adara's child survive after Haydar has taken her prisoner?
Will Alec's death go avenged?
What will happen to Nasir now that Leigh is here?
Will Alec's death go avenged?
What will happen to Nasir now that Leigh is here?
Blood Green, because all good things come to an end.
EXCERPT
There
was only one destination that Haydar had in mind while he was pulling Adara
through the forest and mountains of Colorado, Leigh’s training camp. He had to
control Adara’s body while they traveled. She fought against him tooth and nail
every second of the journey, and he had to respect that, an Algula woman not
scared to fight. When they made it to the facility, he pointed to one of the
guards that were standing watch at the entrance of the building.
“You!
Come here, now,” he bellowed, his voiced laced with authority. When the guard
came to stand beside him, he pushed Adara into his hands and began to bark out
more orders. “You take her to my chambers. She isn’t to leave. As a matter of
fact, I want her secured in my room, not to move.”
Two
words left the guard’s mouth, “Yes, sir.” Haydar watched as the guard began to
pull on Adara. Her shrill voice shrieked then, “No, let me go! My baby! Let me
go!”
Haydar’s
violet eyes scorched Adara’s body. He couldn’t help thinking what a foolish
woman this was for not only trying to defy him, but to escape his custody as
well. “I do not care about that infant you carry inside of you. I hope it dies.
One less family member to kill. Hmm, maybe I should just kill it myself.”
“No!”
Adara screamed out.
Haydar’s
back was now turned on the situation, and he hoped that his guard would take a
hint and remove her from his presence. Normally violence wasn’t such an
appetite builder for Haydar, but today, for some reason, he felt like he could
eat a cow.
“You!
Yes, come here,” he called out to another servant who happened to be walking
past him. “Yes, you. Come!” Haydar watched as the man ran up to him and bowed.
“Bring me food. I want to eat a cow. Make sure it is nice and tasty for me,
won’t you?” The servant gave Haydar a quick bow of his head again and started to
walk off, “Make sure it’s a big, feisty one this time!”
Haydar
enjoyed demeaning the humans by calling them cows. He thought it was amusing
since the humans, in fact, ate cows practically daily for their own nutrition.
The different types of bodies that the
humans possessed made it even more fun for him when he got one that was a
woman, and plump, especially around the center.
Once
he was alone, he stripped from the clothes that he had borrowed from the
hospital and tossed them onto the floor next to his feet. The putrid smell of
dead Algula on his clothing, even though it had been tossed aside, festered
inside his head. He went to the pile of discarded clothes and lit them on fire.
He enjoyed the smells of his enemy rotting away in the ether.
Behind
him, the door to the room opened, and when he turned, he saw his guard pushing
a plump human forward. His smile crept slowly across his face, allowing his
fangs to drop and expose themselves to the worthless piece of meat. “Release
him.” With a single command, he doomed the human for eternity.
The
guard backed away and left the room to Haydar and the man. Haydar looked his
prey up and down slowly, making sure he saw the purple irises that were now
flashing and swirling off and on shades in violet and lavender. When the man
started to back up, Haydar rushed at him and pounced onto the thick man in a
split second. His fangs were already pulsing and thrusting for a bite. It took
virtually no effort to penetrate the soft, moist skin of the human and sink his
pearly white incisors into the man’s blood stream.
The
man fought for a few moments before his body became dead weight in Haydar’s
arms. Once the last drop of blood was drained from the man, Haydar tossed the
carcass onto the stone floor and lit it on fire. As it burned the stench began
to permeate the air, and Haydar thought about how much he would miss this smell
if he had been a, quote un quote, vegetarian, like some of the foolish Algula
he had met. He licked his lips. The droplets of blood that remained gave him a
fresh taste of his kill. This was what he was made for, killing.
Haydar
walked out of his chamber and spotted the guard who had brought him dinner.
“Fetch my daughter,” he demanded curtly. “Have her meet me in my chambers. We
have things to finish.” He stormed down the hallway and walked directly to his
chambers. Adara should be nice and ready for him by now. The thought of the
fear that would be festering inside of her gave him pleasure.
He
took a second to reflect on what his Sarah would think about this situation.
Haydar was aware that Sarah would be against him killing Adara because of the
pregnancy, but sometimes in war, people didn’t always get what they wanted. He
had to justify it with that logic. Adara and the unborn child would simply be
casualties of war and not a slight on the Gods who’d created them. Sarah would
understand the need for survival, for keeping their race alive and thriving
with no one to stop them.
As
he approached his chambers, the metal doors prevented him from entry at first.
He grabbed ahold of the handles and pushed before walking directly into the
room where he was met by a wonderful display of victory. It was as if she was
his prize, a token he had won during a carnival game. He walked over to Adara’s
bound body and ran his fingers along her soft, smooth skin. He knew he was
causing her something, fear, excitement, anything, when he saw the goose bumps
pop up along the trail his fingers took.
About the Author
Ashley, also
known as Niki Becker, is married and lives in Houston with her husband Tony.
They have two dogs, Toto and Doogie. They have been together for over 8 and a
1/2 years and he brings her more joy than she could ever imagine as a child.
She loves to read and has been hooked on the romance genre ever since her
lifelong best friend gave her "Ashes to Ashes' by Tami Hoag to read when
they
Ashley finds
her strength through her family, especially her parents. They always support
her in life; they push her to strive for greatness. There once was a motto that
Ashley heard in her youth through her Taekwondo life 'Reach for the Stars' and
that is what Ashley has always done. It was through her upbringing that the
values Ashley has and displays come from. With her parents always cheering her
on in life she was able to grow up having faith in herself and her ability to
conquer the world.
Ashley enjoys writing many different
genre’s of fiction. Her areas range from science fiction/ paranormal, mystery,
romance, poetry and erotica (using pen name Niki Becker.)
Links!
http://www.facebook.com/ashers83 (Add Friend)
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