Guest Author Rayne Hall

Today Rayne Hall joins us on the blog to inspire you to get the most out of your Twitter platform. Yesterday I posted my review of Rayne’s book “Twitter for Writers”. Here is a link if you missed it. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5vM

Let’s read Rayne’s advice.

TWELVE TWITTER TIPS FOR WRITERS

by Rayne Hall

 

1. Aim to attract readers, not customers. Blatant promotions such as “Have you read my wonderful novel [Insert Title] yet? Buy it here [Insert URL] bore and annoy. Instead, entertain your followers. If they enjoy reading your tweets, they’ll become interested in reading your books. Choose topics of interest to your potential readers. If you write Paranormal Romance, tweet about shapeshifter lore. If you write historical fiction, tweet little-known facts about life in your chosen period. Writing interesting posts in 140 characters or less is a challenge, but you can do it – you’re a writer!

 

2. Use your pen name as both your ‘Full Name’ and your ‘User Name’, so the people who read your tweets will recognise the name when they see your book.

 

3. Follow people who are interested in your genre. Many of them will follow you back, which gives you the chance to woo them with entertaining tweets. They are your potential readers. To find people who like your genre, search profiles for keywords such as ‘horror’ or ‘romance’.

 

4. How many followers you have matters little. What counts is their quality. Many accounts are automated and don’t read tweets; many others are fakes created by the thousands and sold by scammers (“Buy 30,000 followers for only $29!!!”). Having many followers is useless unless they are real people who really read your tweets at least sometimes.

 

5. Stay away from ‘automating’ your Twitter account. The sellers of such services promise this will save you time – but in practice, it drives your genuine followers away. When they see that you’re faking it, they won’t bother to read your tweets, and they certainly won’t go and buy your book. Don’t auto-greet, auto-thank, auto-tweet, auto-retweet, auto-favourite or auto-anything. Stay real.

 

6. Engage with others as much as you can. Interaction gains more attention than one-way tweeting.

Read your followers’ tweets and respond to some of them. Ask questions, voice opinions, share information.

 

7. From time to time, retweet tweets by other writers – but choose carefully and don’t overdo it. Don’t deluge your loyal followers with other people’s promotional tweets.

 

8. To connect with other writers, search for tweets with the hashtag ‘#amwriting’. You can also share your own writing progress, adding ‘#amwriting’ so other writers will find you.

 

9. Search for the hashtag ‘#writetip’. Experienced authors use it to give tweet-length writing advice.

 

10. When you tweet about your book, include an URL to the book’s product page on major bookselling website. To reach Amazon customers worldwide (Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca etc) use a universal Amazon link that opens in the viewer’s regional Amazon. Try Booklinker.net. The service is free.

11. At the end of your book, invite readers to contact with you on Twitter. Many will do this, because it’s a quick way to tell the author how much you enjoyed the book. Retweet and favourite such tweets, and ask your fans about their reading experience: Who was their favourite character? Did they buy the book immediately, or did they read the sample pages first? What do they think of the ending? Such questions show the readers that you value their opinions, and they give you valuable insights into your audience.

12. Be helpful. Often, it takes just a few seconds to share a useful link, answer someone’s question, give a useful tip. Helping others creates good karma for you and makes Twitter a pleasant place for everyone.

I hope you find these tips helpful. If you tweet me (@RayneHall) that you’re a writer and have read this post, I’ll probably follow you back.

Any questions? Just leave a comment and ask, and I’ll reply.

Rayne Hall has published more than fifty books in several languages under several pen names with several publishers in several genres, mostly fantasy, horror and non-fiction. She is the author of the bestselling Writer’s Craft series and editor of the Ten Tales anthologies.

Having lived in Germany, China, Mongolia and Nepal, she has now settled in a small dilapidated town of former Victorian grandeur on the south coast of England where she enjoys reading, gardening and long walks along the seashore. She shares her home with a black cat adopted from the cat sanctuary. His name is Sulu and he’s the perfect cat for a writer – except when he claims ownership of her keyboard.

You can follow here on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RayneHallAuthor and Twitter http://twitter.com/RayneHall where she posts advice for writers, funny cartoons and cute pictures of her cat.

Find a copy of Twitter for Authors here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Thank you so much for being our guest today, I hope you have inspired all us authors to be more focused on Twitter.

 

 

 

 

 

Book Reviewers – Playing Nicely

Book Reviewers – Playing Nicely.

Check this out, it’s a wonderful piece that needs sharing!

Derek’s In Trouble by Mac Black

Derek’s in Trouble by Mac Black

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Derek’s in Trouble is the second book in the Derek series of witty humorous tales about newspaper reporter Derek Toozlethwaite. Derek is surrounded by a cast of delightful characters who add to the chaos and calamity which is Derek’s life.

The book opens with recently married Derek caught dressing up in his wife’s clothes as part of research for a newspaper article. However wife Sally doesn’t see the funny side of her best pair of shoes being ruined and takes off to stay with her parents while her temper cools down.

Meanwhile there is so much else going on; Derek’s Granny gets a secret slot on the local radio as Granny Wisdom. Poor Hamish Macintosh is forced to sell up his farm. Aunt Thelma wants a motorbike and the lovely Sophie Clerkenwell-Brown wants to sign up the author of The Big Squeak, the mysterious Ivy Bloom. Then there are Arthur and Charlie, gardeners who are training for the Marathon and looking for sponsors and finally what is growing on Hamish’s old farm now being run by Tipsicorus International?

Just how much trouble can one man get himself into? You will have to read it and see, and like me, become a fan of Derek.

Come back and find out more about the Derek series in my April A to Z Challenge. Mac Black’s books will be featured on Friday 4th April.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads.

A to Z Theme Reveal – 21st March

Welcome to the A to Z Theme Reveal for my blog.

So what is the A to Z Challenge? It’s 26 blogs using the letters of the Alphabet all through April taking Sundays off. It’s a chance to find new friends, get new followers and promote your work and your blog content across the world. Anyone with a blog can sign up and take part. This will be the 5th Year of the challenge first introduced by Arlee Bird in 2010 and it has grown in success each year. Last year over 1600 bloggers entered and during the challenge we are encouraged to visit as many of the participants as we can and leave comments. I think it is a fantastic opportunity to expand your blogging world. This year nearly 1400 people have signed up already and there are still more than 10 days left to sign up. Find out more at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

My Theme is all about books, their authors and their writing. Each blog tells you a little about the book and where you can purchase a copy or find out more about the author. The books cover a wide range of genres and hopefully there is something for everyone.

What else? Each post will also have links to other bloggers who are taking up the A to Z challenge, by providing these I’m hoping to encourage my regular readers and casual visitors to expand their blogging experience and meet new people.

What do you have to look forward to?

April 1st – A world Apart by Camelia Miron Skiba

April 2nd – Boot Camp Bride by Lizzie Lamb

April 3rd – Coronado’s Treasure by Randy Mixter

April 4th – Derek’s Revenge (The Derek Series) by Mac Black

April 5th – Everlasting by Candace Knoebel

April 6th -Round up of the tour so far

April 7th – Finding the Right Time by Stephanie Hurt

April 8th – The Georgie Connelly series by E. L Lindley

April 9th – Hidden Heart by Camelia Miron Skiba

April 10th – The Imdaland series by Rebecca Etherington

April 11th – Jaded by Kristy Feltenberger Gillespie

April 12th – The Bench by Sue Koenig

April 13th -Round up of the tour so far

April 14th – Legends of Windemere series – Family of the Tri-Rune by Charles E Yallowitz

April 15th – My GRL by John W Howell

April 16th – Nobody’s Fault by Terry Tyler

April 17th – The Orphan and the Thief by M L LeGette

April 18th – The Potter’s Daughter by Daniel A Smith

April 19th – Quentins by Maeve Binchy

April 20th -Round up of the tour so far

April 21st – Red Clay and Roses by S. K. Nicholls

April 22nd – Silk, Spice and Furry Dice by Andy N Robinson

April 23rd – The 20’s Girl by June Kearns

April 24th – Unforgiven by Barbara J Hancock

April 25th – Victoria by Stephanie Hurt

April 26th – What it Takes by Terry Tyler

April 27th – Round up of the tour so far

April 28th – X by Jack Croxall

April 29th – Over Odyssey – Yellow by Tony Carnival

April 30th – Zen Master Next Door by Edward Kardos

Reflections of the 2014 challenge.

Click here for a link to other blogs who are revealing their theme today.

Good Husband Material by Trisha Ashley

Good Husband Material by Trisha Ashley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this romantic romp, Trisha Ashley wove a wonderful tale around a set of funny situations. A scandalous rock star, an unfaithful husband and a village scene with its own set of colourful inhabitants. Our heroine writes books about her lost love and our hero paints her, and who is the inspiration behinds the rock band’s lyrics? Add some mad animals and a batty old Granny, this book is a great read.

Find this book here on Amazon.

View all my reviews

Guest Author JM Leitch

Today my guest on the blog is Jackie Leitch, please enjoy reading her replies.

Dear Rosie

Thank you so much for giving me the chance to be interviewed for your website.  Here are my answers to your questions.

My name is J M Leitch and I live in Bali, Indonesia.

I’ve always loved writing, and over the years I’ve written a great deal of non-fiction business material in the form of training courses, business proposals,

business reports, articles on training, technical manuals, the list goes on – but I didn’t start to write my first novel until 2004. It took me 7 1/2 years to complete!

It’s hard to put my debut novel into a specific genre.  I describe it as a futuristic thriller, but although it is set in 2068 the main action takes place in 2012.

One of the reasons it took me so long to write was that it required a huge amount of research because, in order to make the bizarre plot believable,

I had to ground everything – all the science, the New Age theory, the technology, the places, the organisations, the politics – everything, in reality.

I wanted to write something that would shock people… that would stretch their brains, so to speak, because this is the kind of books I most enjoy

reading. I like to think I achieved it with The Zul Enigma as many people have commented that they continued thinking about the novel long after they

finished reading it.

My 3 writing tips are:

1. Never stop a writing session at the end of a chapter or the end of a section. I ALWAYS continue to write the next few sentences or

paragraphs, and sometimes even stop in mid-sentence. I sometimes jot down a list of feelings, or emotions, or key words or ideas. This way, when I next

sit down to write, I can get my head in the right place to continue much more quickly. It’s like I never stopped.

2. When editing be ruthless. If a phrase, sentence, paragraph, section or chapter doesn’t reveal more about the characters, advance the plot, add

background detail or build tension, cut it out. Don’t keep it just because the words sound pretty.

3. Read your work over and over again. I’ve heard that a writer should edit his work at least 7 times. I know I did 7 drafts of my book, and even now,

after I published it, I know I could still improve on it.

The last novel I finished reading this month was Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk and I gave it 5 stars. I love it. It is a complex book with many

underlying themes that made me question the consumer-orientated life we live in the western world. It has a great twist and a terrific ending that

rather than sewing everything up in a tidy package really made me think. I love Palahniuk’s stark style, his succinct imagery and the fact that all

his characters are wonderfully flawed and very real.

My book is The Zul Enigma and the link is: viewBook.at/B0073M876M

(this is a link that will automatically open at the book page for the local version of Amazon wherever you are in the world)

Once again, Rosie, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. I wish you all success with your novel, Talk of the Playground.

With kind regards

J M Leitch
Author of The Zul Enigma

Chuck Palahniuk rang a bell! Ages ago I went on the web site “I write like…”and submitted a piece of work from my book, they matched my style of writing with Chucks! At the time I’d never heard of him, so I looked him up. It felt very Bizarre. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-2v

The Community Storyboard- A Brand New Blog

Yesterday saw the launch of The Community Storyboard blog, a place for writers, poets and authors to meet. Follow the link to meet a growing group of fellow people who all love to write.

http://neverendingstorydepository.wordpress.com/

It’s a blog intending to feature short fiction, non-fiction or poetry. Check out the submission guidelines if you would like to have a piece of work posted.

Guest Author Niki Barrie

Please join me in welcoming Niki Barrie as today’s guest author;

NAME: Nicoletta (Niki) Barrie
LIVE: Rochester, NY
STARTED WRITING: as a child…maybe 9 years old–poetry and essays
BOOKS I like writing:: I’ve written only one book — children’s fiction and I like it the best of anything I’ve written because I could be so creative. I’ve written a PDF that is a giveaway with my novel called “What You Need to Know before You Adopt a Dog,” available at http://dog-rescue-iowa.org/free-e-book-what-you-need-to-know-before-you-adopt-a-dog/,

and a chapter of nonfiction book Return to Big Grass, but otherwise my writing has all been for magazines.
THREE TIPS on Writing/Publishing:
1. Know your audience. This is true in the nonfiction market and though I’m new to fiction, I believe it is true there as well.
2. The publishing industry has been and continues to be changing constantly. Be prepared for it.
3. Know the English language (or whatever language you are writing in).
LAST BOOK I read: The Panther by Nelson DeMille; I love his books.. He’s an excellent writer, but this one wasn’t as interesting as the others (I’ve read them all).

LINK to my book on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Clover-Twins-search-Cloverleaf-dogs/dp/1480175102/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1364238815&sr=8-2&keywords=clover+twins

Guest Author Sarah Solmonson

Today my guest on the blog is Sarah Solmonson, please join me in welcoming Sarah to the blog, here are Sarah’s replies;

1) Tell me your name

Sarah Solmonson

2) Where do you live?

Less than a mile from the beautiful Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota.

3)When did you start writing?

In kindergarten I used to think I was writing when I added words to my books. I still have a stack of construction paper books from the first grade – the collection grew from there!

4)What type of books do you like writing the most?

Narrative non-fiction

5)Pass on 3 tips about writing or publishing.

1. Secret to meeting word count goals? Place bum in chair and write. It’s that simple. 2. Never stop learning. Read craft books, read blogs, study from the best of the best who have paved the way. 3. Promote and cheer on others 90% of the time, promote yourself the other 10%.

6)What was the last book that you read? How would you rate it?

The Storyteller by Jodi Piccoult. 3/10. I actually yelled at the book a few times and threw it across the room once.

7)Now choose just one of your books and add a link to it.

Taking Flight

http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Flight-ebook/dp/B009T631WA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1363835981&sr=8-2&keywords=taking+flight+sarah+solmonson

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Taking-Flight-Sarah-Solmonson/dp/1480121789/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368385271&sr=8-1&keywords=Taking+flight+by+Sarah+solmonson

For the next thirty minutes I was untouchable in my joy. The sky was clear, the sun already tempting me to spend another day at the beach. I had my best friend by my side and a boy who loved me. It was about this same time that you were inching down the runway, lifting off the ground for one of the hundreds of take-offs the FAA required your experimental aircraft to make before you could expand the distance you were permitted to fly. It was about this time that everything changed… David Norton lived for two things: family and flying. With the help of his wife, Jan (self appointed parts manager) and teenage daughter, Sarah (lifelong co-pilot), David worked for six years building his very own airplane in his basement workshop. His dream became a reality in the spring of 2000 when N256DN took its first flight. Three months later, David was performing a routine take-off when a fluke change in wind brought his plane down. David was killed instantly. Jan and Sarah were thrown into a whirlwind of grief and depression that nearly destroyed the family David so dearly loved. I was unhealthy in every way a person could be, intensified by the fact that I kept pretending to be fine. Or doing my best to pretend, to fit into who I was before. I cared about nothing but went through the daily motions of school, homework, and hanging out with friends, as though these were still the most important parts of my life. I felt like I was outside of my own body most of the time, watching from the side-lines as Sarah smiled. Now a grown woman with a family and dreams of her own, Sarah looks back on the depression and darkness of teenage grief and the unthinkable transformation of her family following her father’s death. Taking Flight is a journey through loss, a story of love, and a lesson in following your dreams – no matter what the cost. Life is beautiful and brief – get your copy of Taking Flight today and find the inspiration to touch the skies of your dreams.

Guest Author Harry Steinman

Today my guest is Harry Steinman, please join me in welcoming Harry to the blog, here are Harry’s answers;

Name: Harry Steinman

2) Where do you live?

Boston

3)When did you start writing?

First serious (for me) writing was age 14

4)What type of books do you like writing the most?

Don’t know yet. So far, written one book which is either sci-fi or literary fiction. Take your pick.

5)Pass on 3 tips about writing or publishing.

1. Create your marketing strategy as you are writing. Figure out who will enjoy your book. Things like blurbs and covers should fit that profile.
2. Plan ahead for publishing. There are a slew of actions, especially submitting an ARC to reviewers, that must be planned months in advance.
3. Write daily. When people ask what you do, “I’m a writer.”

6)What was the last book that you read? How would you rate it?

“Dune” by Brian Herbert, for about the 20th time. One of my two all-time fave novels.

7)Now choose just one of your books and add a link to it.

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Deadly-Things-ebook/dp/B0093O0UBI

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Deadly-Things-ebook/dp/B0093O0UBI/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368385577&sr=1-1&keywords=little+deadly+things+by+harry+steinman

“Little Deadly Things” (Description from Goodreads)

When abusive parents raise brilliant children, you might end up with a saint, or a killer…or one of each.

Little Deadly Things is the place where science meets the psyche, where humanity’s future is in the hands of a madwoman and the family that must stop her.

The seeds of an apocalyptic race–to save mankind or to destroy it–were sown in the earliest years of two scientists. Young Eva Rozen witnessed her sister’s brutal murder, and barely escaped with her life. She found refuge in the orderly world of science. Twenty-five years later, this master of nanotechnology is the world’s richest woman…and the most dangerous.

Marta Cruz also endured a troubled childhood. Her mother’s death and her father’s incarceration left her an orphan, and a crippling disease left her in pain. Marta’s refuge? A tropical rain forest where she discovers plants with miraculous healing properties under the tutelage of her shamanistic grandmother.

The two girls meet in high school and form an uneasy friendship that lasts through college. Eva wants power, profit–and Marta’s husband. She offers to fund Marta’s public health dreams in exchange for the ailing physician’s knowledge of plant-based medicines. Together, they build the world’s largest nanotech manufacturer.

When the unstable Eva has a psychotic break, and attacks the people who rely on her for survival, only Marta can stand between Eva and the death of millions. But Marta is a healer, not a fighter, and must rely on her husband and teenaged son, a boy who faces a life-or-death challenge well beyond his years.

Here is a chilling look at a future that is already on our doorstep–and a study of the two women who will decide the fate of mankind.