Marketing A Novel: Using Facebook To Sell Your Book

These days authors have to depend more and more on using social media to sell their books. If, like me, you're an independent author, it's crucial... though writers who've had their books published by traditional means also have to reach out to readers. It's especially important if you're only selling your novel as an e-book. Because you can't sell in-person and do readings in bookstores, using sites like Facebook or Twitter is the next best thing.

For F#@! BOMB's release, I've been experimenting with Facebook. We had great success launching LOVE NOTES with a Facebook party, so I hosted aa FB event for F#@! BOMB. I also, of course, posted my book's link on my personal and author pages, and alerted my friends and contacts of its existence. So far, I've sold quite a few through FB, though I'm trying to expand my readership and sales.

I've tried my luck at using Facebook's ad campaigns... and I can't say it's worked too well for me. While most features on FB are still free (and will hopefully stay that way), you can buy ad space to promote a post or particular page. FB has you pay a certain amount of money -- they encourage anything from $5 on -- and the more you pay, the more people you reach. Generally your post/page is boosted for a day or so, or until the money runs out (which happens rather quickly). You can customize your ads to target particular people, which further expands your potential fan base.

FB does what it promises as my pages and posts HAVE gotten many views. I've gotten dozens of "likes" on my author and jewelry designer pages, and have a few new followers. However, while the views are coming in, it doesn't seem like people really click the actual links. People tend to "like" what's right in front of them, whether it's a photo of my jewelry or a blurb about my books, but most haven't bothered to actually head to my Etsy stores or to my Amazon pages. They simply like the post and move on. Sometimes I wonder if they even know what they're liking.

From this experience I've found that it's better to target people who are specifically looking for a product. The FB release parties worked well because book lovers were eager to meet the authors and learn about the novels. They weren't just blindly liking links. I think many of us -- myself included - kind of go through FB and click, click, click, like, like, like whatever pops up... but it takes more effort to actually stop and change the page to view whatever is being sold.

As an online vendor, I'm a big fan of Facebook because it has gotten me book and jewelry sales. But buying ads is not the way to go, at least for me.

Please read and review F#@! BOMB, REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD and LOVE NOTES, all available on Amazon.

Marketing An E-Book: A Successful Facebook Release Party!

My F#@! BOMB Facebook Release Party was tonight and I'm happy with the results! While I didn't have a huge number of people stop by, I still had enough readers to keep things interesting. A couple stayed for the entire two hours, which I truly appreciate. A few of my close friends, plus my husband, made guest appearances and I think the readers enjoyed "meeting" them.

I always enjoy meeting fellow book lovers and we had some interesting discussions. Since my novel's narrator is an overweight woman with food issues, we talked about how food has so many associations for different people -- many of them having nothing to do with an item's taste. We also talked about portrayals of plus-size and LGBT characters, and shared the names of our favorite authors. I was glad to see so many Stephen King fans in the house! He's one of my favorites, not only because I'm a long-time horror fan, but because he writes brilliant, complex characters. His stuff is scary as hell, too, and that's always fun to read.

Now that the party is over I have to plan my next steps in publicizing the book. I've already signed up for another blog tour and am getting a "Book Of The Day" post with Kindle Book Review. I'd like to do more social media events, though. I really like interacting with my readers and in an age where social media has become so important, I think they enjoy chatting with accessible authors. I reached out a bit with REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, but my experience with LOVE NOTES has taught me that I need to do even more. I'm not entirely sure what yet, but will read up on ideas.

Meantime, be sure to read and review F#@! BOMB, now on sale on Amazon. Also check out LOVE NOTES and REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

It's Release Day For My New Novel!

It's Release Day for my latest novel F#@! BOMB -- and I couldn't be more excited! I have a nice number of guests attending tonight's Facebook party. Plus, I've gotten good feedback so far from people who've started reading it.

I always hope my work will do well and will sell, but even if it doesn't, I'm proud of this book. I put so much of myself into it and am pleased with the result. I'm also very grateful to my "team" for helping me. My editors Diane, Amy, Rachael, Tom and Elaine gave me great suggestions and my designer, Shane Morgan, made the novel look beautiful.

Tonight's FB event should be a lot of fun, so be sure to stop by! I'll be giving away Amazon gift certificates, copies of my book and some of my handmade wire wrapped jewelry:

I'm also having a couple of "guest stars" drop in to add a little more excitement. It will be an opportunity to connect with other readers, as well as to get to know me a bit better. :-)

I hope to "see" many of you tonight online. Meanwhile, please read and review F#@! BOMB, as well as REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD and LOVE NOTES. Thank you for your support!

My New Novel: Now Available For Pre-Order On Amazon!

Great news! My second novel, F#@! BOMB is finished and is now available for pre-order on Amazon! It will be out on March 30, so you won't have to wait too long to read it.

I've been working on and off on this book for a couple of years, so it's a little surreal for me knowing it's finished. I have that feeling of, "Okay, now what do I do?" but the easy answer is to ... write another book. I began F#@! BOMB soon after the release of REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD and I hope to jump into another project within the next few weeks.

Meantime, I'm really happy with how F#@! BOMB came out. This novel is a heavier story than BAND GEEK, which was basically a romance. I don't know how readers will respond, but I've gotten some good feedback from my editors. More importantly, I'm proud of my work.

One thing I did with this book that I hadn't done with BAND GEEK is make the entire package look professional. I did hire a graphic designer to create my BAND GEEK cover, but I formatted the text myself... which apparently had mixed results. For F#@! BOMB, I hired someone -- Shane Morgan, whose book THE RIGHT SONG is included in the LOVE NOTES anthology -- to design my cover AND text. She did an amazing job! The cover is below, but when you read the book, you'll see the care that was put into the creation of the chapter headers, page breaks, etc. These are details I hadn't thought about when doing BAND GEEK, but every little thing matters. I'm actually thinking of re-doing BAND GEEK's overall design so I can update it and bring it to F#@! BOMB's level.

I hope people enjoy reading my latest book as much as I enjoyed writing it. Here's a blurb to whet your appetite:

Fatty. Freak. Friendless. Failure. Sadie Abramowitz is used to being alone. The morbidly obese college freshman literally doesn’t fit in anywhere and was constantly the butt of jokes in high school.

So far, life at Cunningham University isn’t much better. Her roommate only communicates in grunts while Sadie’s “dream job” at the school paper has her interviewing her fellow students with questions that practically invite them to insult her.

Things change when she’s assigned a story on Griffin Greenberg, the freshman track star who was one of Sadie’s high school bullies. At first, she’s reluctant to work with the gorgeous Griffin, but soon discovers that he’s not such a bad guy. Plus, he’s been keeping a secret: he’s gay.

As their friendship grows, Griffin challenges Sadie to do something she never thought possible: train for a marathon. Meanwhile, she supports him as he slowly comes to terms with his sexuality. Together, they help each other survive their first year of college – and also learn how to stand strong on their own.

Don't forget to order your copy of F#@! BOMB. Also be sure to check out LOVE NOTES and BAND GEEK, all on Amazon.

Getting Back Into Blogging

It's been a really long time since I've blogged about my writing, but all has been well. My jewelry businesses, Naomi's Designs and MayaGirl Creations, have really taken off in the past few months. I've also been busy at work finishing up the first draft of Novel No. 2. So a lot has been going on.

I'm really pleased with how Novel No. 2 is turning out. My draft ended up being over 100,000 words, so it's longer than BAND GEEK. It's also a bit more mature and intense. My writer friend Amy did a read on it and made some great suggestions -- and says that she likes it more than BAND GEEK. I'm also having another friend do a professional edit of my work. With BAND GEEK, I had some people note editing errors and typos and I want to make sure that this doesn't happen with the new book.

I'm not exactly sure when the new book will be available. I'm waiting for my friend to finish her edits, which is taking longer than we both anticipated. Still, I figure that the more time that's put into it, the better. I don't want her to rush through it. I'm hoping to have it ready by the spring. I feel like the story is very tight and focused; it's just a matter of rewriting some scenes.

I plan to do another virtual book tour and place my book on Amazon Kindle. However, I think that I'm going to try some other author outlets, as well. I want to try Smashwords and see if I can get some sales in other venues.

I'll admit, I've been kind of lazy about promoting BAND GEEK, but I only have so many hours in the day and I wanted to devote my time to finishing my book and promoting my jewelry. It's no surprise then that sales haven't been so great. The good news is, I've gotten some nice reviews on Amazon, so I at least know that my story is entertaining some readers. For the most part, I've been trying to stay away from reviews, but it's hard to resist reading them when you find out that someone gave your book five stars.

This year I'd like to see if I can regain some of the publicity I lost. I have to give credit to those self-published authors whose e-books become best sellers. You not only need a good story and great word-of-mouth, but you have to put in a LOT of work to keep readers' interested. Those authors are constantly on Facebook or Twitter, or in the Goodreads forums... and frankly, I don't know how they do it! They really work for their success and understand the business side of writing.

Meantime, I'm going to update this blog more often, at least once a week. Be sure to check out my novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD on Amazon.

Publishing A Novel: Cover Model?

It's been a little over three months since BAND GEEK came out on Amazon and I'm thinking of doing something very drastic: I'm debating whether I should change my book's cover.

I'm very, very torn about this because I spent a lot of money to have my cover professionally designed. Moreover, I absolutely LOVE the cover. The designer, Damonza, did an amazing job and came up with something that's fun, mysterious, cool and interesting. It's received many compliments from readers and is definitely different than many of the young adult book covers that are out there:

The problem is, I don't think that this cover is attracting the audience I really want to get: teen/20-something girls.

While browsing online and on Kindle, I realized that most of the best-selling YA books have something important in common: they have people on the cover. There will either be a close-up of a girl, a shot of a cute guy or a shot of a couple. I doubt that this is what makes these books best sellers; a great story and writing is, of course, necessary, but I do think that the packaging helps. For instance, a really cute book that I recently read is Lacey Weatherford's Crush. As you can see, there is a smokin' hot guy on that cover; he really does get your attention! And based on many reviewers' comments, this is what made them purchase the book. Don't get me wrong; it's a great story and many readers agree with me, but many also admit that it was the cute guy who drew them in. Weatherford must be aware of this, too, because her soon-to-be-released sequel, Smitten, has yet another close-up of the same hottie.

I shouldn't be too surprised by this because now that I think about it, most of the teen books that I've read do have people on the cover. Judy Blume always had a pensive or happy girl (or boy in some cases) on the front of her books. The Sweet Valley High series featured shots of the twins, Jessica and Elizabeth, or their friends. The Alice series always has Alice the character front and center. Even the Harry Potter books have kids on the covers. In fact, the only seriously popular YA books that I can think of off the top of my head that DON'T have cover people are The Hunger Games and Twilight. But they cross over into other genres. BAND GEEK falls right into the contemporary fiction/romance slot where cover people dominate.

People seem to be enjoying BAND GEEK; it's getting great reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, and most of the bloggers who reviewed it during my last book tour gave it positive write-ups. Right now, it's at 4.5 stars on Amazon and 4.09 stars on Goodreads, for which I'm very proud. But despite the good press, it's not selling as well as I'd like and I suspect that I chose the wrong type of cover for my coveted audience.

As of now, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. If I switch up my cover, I'll have to once again plunk down a hefty chunk of change and I can't guarantee that a new cover will indeed boost sales. On the other hand, if a change DOES work, it could be worth it. I don't know. But I do know that with my next book, there will definitely be a face on the front.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A AND GEEK GONE BAD.

More Reviews Of BAND GEEK -- And A Defense Of A Character

Got two more great reviews of BAND GEEK from bloggers! You can read YA Book Addict's take and the one written by Unabridged Audra. Thanks again, ladies, for your support -- it's much appreciated. And readers, again, make sure you check out their posts and comment on them so that you can have a chance to win my special giveaway package.

It really means a lot to me to know that so many people are enjoying my writing and characters. I try to have faith in myself as a writer and to not put too much stock in reviews because I don't want the negative ones to bring me down, and I don't want to get too caught up in "believing my own press." But let's face it, I think I can speak for most authors when I say that we definitely care what others think, good or bad. Getting a really positive review makes my day and boosts my confidence in my abilities.

But it seems as if even the readers who adore BAND GEEK still dislike Mel's mom, Lydia. Poor Lydia; that character is misunderstood, I guess, LOL. It's funny, because when I wrote Mel's nemesis, Kathy, I wrote her with the INTENT for her to be the villain. She's the leader of the "mean girls" who taunt my narrator and has many unlikeable moments. However, some have commented that they actually came to hate and like Kathy in some scenes; she's turned out to be that girl whom you "love to hate." Lydia hasn't quite garnered that respect, maybe because she's a mother and should know better? I don't know. Truth be told, though, I didn't write her to be the bad guy. I wrote her to be a very stressed and hypercritical parent who wants what's best for her daughter and goes about dealing with Mel in the absolute wrong way. She does try ... and seems to have failed, even if she does get redeemed. I suppose that it's good that I created a character who's geting such a strong reaction! The good news is that the mom in my latest novel is the complete opposite; she's very laid back and sweet -- to a fault, actually -- and dotes on her daughter. Like I said in my last post, there is no right or wrong way to react to my book, but I wanted to share my perspective and the thoughts that went behind creating this woman.

I'm not a parent, but I do have a niece and a honorary nephew, and have many friends who are new parents. It's interesting to see different parenting styles. Not all adults handle their children in the same way. Some are awful and abusive (I'm not referring to any of my friends here; just parents in general). Some are firm and loving. Some, like Lydia, love their kids but let their own issues affect their relationships. I wrote this story with my teen years in mind, but now that I'm an adult, I can understand the parents' side a little, too. Just because you're a grownup and have children doesn't mean that you have all of the answers. In BAND GEEK, the adults are as a flawed as the teens, if not more.

One of the things that I like the best about writing is exploring the idea of different types of real-life relationships -- for better or for worse. I hope that the characters in my next book make as much as an impression as Lydia, Mel and Josh are for readers of BAND GEEK.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, currently 4.6 stars on Amazon and 4.09 stars on Goodreads!

Publishing A Novel: My First Overseas Review!

I find it amusing that one of my most-read posts on this blog is the one I wrote about my first bad review. I don't know if the people reading this are other writers who've received rejections and are happy to know that they're not alone, or if these readers are simply people who enjoy hearing about others' bad days, but for whatever reason, that post is getting a lot of attention.

I'm happy to report that BAND GEEK received its first review from the United Kingdom on UK Amazon. And it got five stars from this person!

I haven't sold that many books overseas, at least not yet, so I still get a kick out of seeing sales from the UK or Germany, or France. I wonder how BAND GEEK's tale will translate in these places. Obviously there isn't a language issue for readers in England and the rest of the UK, but the British sense of humor is a bit different from America's. So I'm pleased that a teen from the UK enjoyed my book so much.

I do want to make it clear that I'm not trying to brag about my work by sharing these little triumphs. As you know, I'm more than willing to share my disappointments and I'm my own worst critic. I'm hoping that by blogging about both the good and bad points in my writing career that I can give readers -- and prospective authors -- a chance to see what being an indie author is really like. That said, thanks again to everyone who's weighed in on my book so far.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Writing A Novel: Use Your Words Wisely -- An Interesting Review

I haven't yet read the 50 SHADES OF GREY trilogy so I can't comment on the books; however, some of the reviews are pretty funny, including one where the reader kept a running count on repetitive phrases and words, such as "blushed," "flushed," "gasped," etc. Recently, I received a review where the reader also apparently kept count in my book ... and complained about my repetitive use of the word "that."

I'm not sure whether she means that I used "that" too many times (see, I used it twice in one phrase) or if she was critiquing sentences where I used the word twice in a row, i.e. "I told you that that girl isn't worth talking to!" (In this case, my usage is correct, though I very well could've had a typo where the word was incorrectly repeated.). Anyway, it was an interesting review and one that friends have joked about. One suggested that I used "a" and "the" too many times; another advised me to use more accents over words.

Still, much as some people may have laughed about it, her review got me thinking: When does a writer know when he or she has overused a particular word or phrase?

When I was at the magazine, we were all very aware of our word usage. Our longest articles were about 1500 words, certainly not anywhere near novel length, so we tried to vary attributions. As we quoted an actor, we wouldn't just say, "He said." We'd use everything from "He stated" to "He mused." We tried to mix things up as much as possible, making sure that everything made sense of course.

There were some other instances where repetitive words were pointed out to us. My boss once told me that I overused "however" as a transitional term. And the copy editors were always coming up with new ways to say the same thing. For instance, if we wrote about the winter weather and used "cold" three times in one paragraph, they'd suggest that we use a "cold," "frigid" and "freezing" to add some variety.

This may seem like nitpicking, but this kept our articles interesting and colorful. I kept this in mind as I wrote BAND GEEK. I thought that my first draft contained too many "weirds" so I edited a lot out. I also edited out a lot of characters' eye rolls, sighs and smirks. Actually, describing facial expressions and ticks was pretty tricky because there are only so many ways to write about emotions without going completely over the top -- so I can understand why E.L. James relied on a lot of blushing and flushing of her characters.

When one writes a 70,000-word novel, it's nearly impossible to NOT repeat certain words. I do think it's important to have some variety, but I haven't yet read a book where every single key word is different. Ultimately, moderation is ideal. I try to at least keep repeated phrases a few paragraphs apart.

This review was a little surprising to me, but I'm open to constructive criticism and appreciate the fact that this woman took the time to give me some. She definitely gave me something to consider!

Please read and review (and count words, if you wish) REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, just 99 cents!

Publishing On Kindle: KDP Select Pros And Cons

My 90-day contract with KDP Select ends this month, which means that I'll have to decide whether I want to renew with this service. It's a pretty big decision, so here are some of the things that I've liked -- and haven't liked about my experience with KDP Select so far.

CON: KDP Select asks authors to grant them 90 days of exclusivity. This means that you can only sell your books on Amazon -- not on Smashwords, Lulu or even your own website. This greatly limits authors who want to diversify their products.

PRO: However, 90 days isn't a very long period. It's not like KDP Select is asking for five years of exclusivity. And out of all of the indie publishing platforms available, let's face it -- Amazon gets the most traffic.

PRO: KDP Select authors' books can be borrowed in Kindle's lending library. Amazon Prime members can borrow your work for free ... but you still make money from borrows. So far, I've made almost as much money from borrows as I have from sales, so I really like this feature.

PRO: KDP Select gives you five days during a 90-day period during which you can give your book away for free. The idea is to put your name out there and gain publicity. I've had mixed results with this, but my last run was successful. Sales went up for quite a while after the promotion and I got several more reviews on my Amazon and Goodreads pages.

CON: I don't plan to do another free giveaway because, well, I want to make money from my book -- even if it's just 99 cents a download. I'd rather promote my work in a way which will encourage people to actually buy BAND GEEK. And 99 cents is about as cheap as you can get outside of getting it for free. Besides, Smashwords allows authors to giveaway books whenever they want; there's no limit on days. But again, Smashwords' traffic isn't as high as Amazon's.

CON: I find it very difficult to get visibility and a higher ranking on Amazon. When my book has sold well, my visibility goes up... but when sales slow down, so does my ranking. It's a vicious cycle and a system that's designed to reward already-successful authors. I wish that Amazon had some promotional options for indie authors (other than free days) to put their names out there and get their books on the most visible pages.

PRO: As I've said a few times now, Amazon gets great traffic. I've heard mixed things about Smashwords and authors' success on that site. It reminds me a bit of how I tried to sell my jewelry on Etsy and ArtFire, but didn't sell a thing on the latter, simply because ArtFire doesn't get Etsy's traffic. Still, it would be nice to have some more options for my writing.

As of now, I'm leaning toward not renewing my KDP Select contract. I can still sell my work on regular Kindle/Amazon and at least try Smashwords and Lulu. It can't hurt to see what happens since both sites are free. And if I don't like those results, I can always re-sign with KDP Select. In the end, I just want to do what's best for my book and I'm glad that indie authors have a few choices.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, just 99 cents!

Kindle Direct Publishing: Pricing Your Book

I published my novel with Kindle Direct Publishing almost three months ago, but am still trying to figure out what the best price is for it. Thankfully, Kindle makes it easy to change your book's information, including its price, so self-published authors can experiment and see what readers are willing to pay.

I initially sold BAND GEEK for $2.99 because several other indie pub YA titles that I like sell at that price. However, what I didn't take into account is that these authors are more established than I am and have had their work up on Amazon for a while. Readers know what they're getting with these authors so they're willing to pay a bit more for their work. New authors, like me, still need to prove themselves. That said, I did manage to sell a few downloads at $2.99, but it was mostly to friends and family members. After that, sale died down.

I decided to lower the price significantly and repriced my book at 99 cents. Sales went up tremendously! I guess people are looking for a bargain, especially when it comes to unknown names. I ended up making more on my book at $.99 because I sold so many more copies. I also sold a bunch of books in the United Kingdom, Germany and France.

My last free giveaway was a success and gave my sales a huge boost. It was then that I decided to take a chance and raise my price back up to $1.99. And ... sales went down. I still did alright, but not as well as before. Plus, I didn't sell any copies overseas at that price.

I've kept my book at $1.99 for a few weeks just to see how it would do, but I've now decided to relist it once again at $.99. I'd like to eventually sell my work at a higher price, but as I said, I'm still a new author and I feel like I can make up for the cost with increased volume. It's now so easy for readers to get thousands of free books for their Kindles that I need to stay competitive and remember where I stand. I'm still at the bottom of the ladder in terms of author recognition. BAND GEEK is getting good reviews and readers are enjoying it, but it's not yet a bestseller. Until that time comes, I think I'm just going to keep it at 99 cents.

I'm not epxecting to get rich from my writing. I would like to make some money, but more than that I'd simply like to get my work out there. If pricing my book low is to way to do it -- for now -- then this is what I'll do to reach my goal.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, now just 99 cents!

Publishing A Novel: My First Bad Review

Well, it happened as I knew it would. After getting a bunch of four and five star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, I got a two star review on Goodreads. As I said, I knew that it would happen eventually.

On the one hand, it sucks. No author wants to get a negative review. We work hard on our books and when someone dislikes something into which you put a lot of time, it hurts.

But on the other hand, many more people have been reading BAND GEEK, which is a good thing. And the more opinions that are out there, the more likely that at least a few are going to be negative.

For instance, I just finished reading Ally Condie's MATCHED/CROSSED/REACHED trilogy and really enjoyed it. I thought that it was brilliantly written and would easily give it at least four stars. However, when I looked on Amazon and Goodreads, there were many readers who really disliked the series. Some loved the first book and found the second and third boring; some were unhappy with the ending; some didn't think that there was enough action. Meanwhile, I plowed through all three within two days. Obviously, I'm not alone in enjoying her work because her books are best sellers -- and she has plenty of five-star reviews that gush over her trilogy.

The point is that reading is very subjective and everyone's tastes are going to vary. This is a beautiful thing. I like that people have places where they can share their opinions on literature, even if their opinions differ. It's interesting to see what excites one person and upsets another -- and really, as they say, there's no way to please everyone.

I don't want to see a lot of two star reviews -- believe me, one is fine! I'd rather have mostly positive write-ups of BAND GEEK. But I appreciate and respect that not everyone is going to like my story and am glad that they have a place to share their dislike.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

KDP Select Free Days Success Story!

Yesterday, I used my fifth and final KDP Select Free Day promotion -- and I'm finally seeing some significant results ... so far.

To backtrack for those of you who aren't aware of Kindle Direct Publishing Select's program, if you sign with them, you sign a 90-day exclusivity contract. During that time, you can only sell your work on Amazon/Kindle; you can't sell on Smashwords or Lulu, or even on your own site. However, during the 90-day period, you get five days during which you can offer your book for free. You can string all five days together or do one or two or three at a time. It's very flexible.

If you put some effort into planning your promotion, you can potentially have thousands of new readers download your book. Your work then ends up on the "customers also bought" lists, you get added exposure and you can see a bump in sales following the promotion.

But the trick is in PLANNING for your free days. The first time I tried the promotion, I did two days in a row. I didn't advertise much, other than on this blog and on Twitter. I got about 500 downloads and a slight bump in sales. Moreover, I made a few foreign sales afterward.

My third and fourth giveaways didn't go so well. One I stupidly scheduled for the United States' Election Day. Since most of my readers are American, I just didn't get traffic. I tried to advertise on more outlets, like various Facebook pages for free ebooks, but I only got about 100 downloads. The same thing happened for Attempt No. 4. I was disappointed and began to wonder if giving my book away was even worth it.

I then put more effort into publicizing and marketing my book. I set up an author page on Goodreads and tried to engage with more people on Facebook and Twitter ... and I saw a slight increase in sales, even without doing the promotion. Meanwhile, I had one free day left, which I'd scheduled for November 26 -- which just happened to be on Cyber monday. While I'd done my other promotions basically on a whim, I took the time to plan for this one. I submitted my book in advance to dozens of Free Ebook Promotional Sites so that it would be advertised on the day of my giveaway. Meanwhile, my sales continued to do resonably well.

Know what? Submitting to those sites AHEAD OF TIME worked! Yesterday, my book had over 2200 downloads -- a nice, big jump from that paltry 100 I had a few weeks back! It made it to No. 2 on the list for Free Books Teen Romance and was No. 107 overall in the Free Kindle Store. While downloading, 10 people "Liked" my Amazon page, giving me some more street cred.

I'm now seeing a significant bump in sales, at least for today. I'm not sure how long it will last, but the promotion is helping, at least for the short term.

So here's what I think helped: 1) My book was starting to get more sales, anyway, so it was moving up in rank. Therefore, when I did the promo, it went to the top of the list pretty quickly. 2) As I said before, I planned ahead. Twitter and Facebook can only help so much, but sites like Pixel Of Ink will really get the word out about your book.

My advice then is this: before doing a free day for your book, put some effort into marketing your work. If your rank is 800,000, a free day probably won't help your sales that much. Also, don't choose to do a free promotion on a whim like I did. Pick a day about a month ahead of time. This way, you have plenty of time to submit to advertising sites. Many want you to submit at least a couple of weeks in advance; the earlier you give your book's listing, the more of a chance that it will actually be listed.

Like I said, I still have to see how the longterm results of my latest giveaway pan out. But I definitely think that it's worth it for authors to at least try KDP Select.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Publishing On Kindle: Fears And Frustrations

There's an episode of Sex & The City when Samantha takes on the job as publicist to her future boyfriend, Smith, and she assures her actor beau of the following when it comes to getting recognition (paraphrased): "First come the gays, then the girls, then everyone else." This is what I'm sensing -- and hoping -- will happen with my book, as I try to get my name out there as an author. Though don't expect me to hang a nude ad of myself in the middle of Times Square as Sam did for Smith. Trust me, this will just scare everyone...

I am seeing the start of this scenario playing out, which leaves me hopeful. For me, it was first friends and family members who downloaded my book, as well as former high school classmates. Now I'm starting to get a bit of positive feedback from teens. From there, I'd like the word to spread and for this to become the type of YA book that appeals to everyone from teens to adults. I just have to wait and be patient... and it's no secret that I have a difficult time doing that.

Meantime, I'm working my butt off as I try to "sell myself." To those of you who spend all day tweeting and social networking, I don't know how you do this. Frankly, it's exhausting. I feel like I have to tweet and send Facebook messages constantly to keep the momentum going -- and before I know it, hours have passed. I actually got one of my Twitter accounts shut down for tweeting too much. Can you believe that? Oh well, live and learn. I don't mind doing the work, though, if it sells my books and lets people know my name.

There are days when I get very frustrated. Yesterday was one of those days where I was having doubts about both my jewelry and writing ventures. But I then forced myself to put my work away for a while (it was Saturday, after all) and went out for dinner with Jon and some friends. Some good German food and my friends' happy baby cheered me up and I was in a great mood by the time we returned home that evening -- and then I received positive e-mails from a fan of my book and a fan of my jewelry. This fired me up and the doubts began to fade.

That's the one downfall of having an artistic career, be it writing, painting, singing or doing anything else that's subjective to people's tastes. If you want to actually make money from doing it, you depend on others liking your work... and at times, that can be trying. I have a thicker skin than I did when I started out, but I'm not wearing armor, either. It still hurts when someone doesn't like my work or when I don't feel that it's getting enough notice.

This is why I have to remind myself that ultimately I'm doing this because it makes ME happy -- and that it's okay for me to sometimes take a break and enjoy other aspects of my life.

To read and review my book, check out REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

FREE Kindle Book -- Free Ebook Today!

My book REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD is FREE on Kindle today, November 10, 2012. This is my fourth free KDP Select day, so time is running out. I get just one more free day after this, so this is your chance to get my book for free. Do it now before my special ends.

I'm realizing in retrospect that scheduling my last free day to be on Election Day in the US wasn't the wisest idea. Most people weren't online looking for books; they were checking out election results. But it's now the weekend and reading a good ebook is the perfect way to relax. So why not download mine and get your mind off of your troubles for a couple of hours?

Like I said, time is running out, so get BAND GEEK for free while you can! Head over to REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD on Amazon!

Publishing On Kindle: BAND GEEK Review

Early this morning, I had two big things on my mind: the Presidential election results and the release of my first professional book review as part of my ongoing Virtual Blog Tour.

I'm pleased -- and relieved -- that Chrys, author of the book review blog Oh, Chrys enjoyed my novel so much. It's always nice to have your work complimented, but what I really appreciate is that she took the time to write such a thorough and thoughtful review. She didn't think that BAND GEEK was pefect and had some valid criticisms, but I feel as if she really "got" the story. She also noted how much time I'd obviously spent when it came to crafting realistic, relatable characters, and I'm ecstatic that my efforts were noticed.

When I ask friends -- or my blog readers -- for reviews, I'm not fishing for compliments. I'm not expecting anyone to gush over my work. I'm looking for reviews that are honest and detailed, that explain exactly WHY my book made an impression (good or bad). Not everyone is going to react to a book or movie, or some other subjective piece of art or literature, the same way, and I'd like to get my readers' unique takes on BAND GEEK.

For any writers who are reading this blog, I do suggest getting a couple of professional reviewers to critique your work. Writing a review that truly explains what makes a book tick is difficult and a skill unto itself. Chrys's piece has given me some stuff to think about when I work on my next novel -- which is what a good critique should do.

And Chrys, if you're reading this, I truly believe that you have a bright future in publishing, either as an editor or a literary agent. I'm not just saying that because you liked my book!

Please read AND review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, just 99 cents on Kindle!

Hey, Readers -- I Need Your Help!

If you're in the United States, chances are you're glued to the election results. This one is certainly a nailbiter. But if you're looking for a break from the drama, please check out my novel, REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, which is free on Kindle today, November 6.

As of this posting, my book is No. 41 in the "Romance" subcategory of free teen books. I'd really like to get it into the top 20 for this category, or even the top 10. How can you help? Head to my page and download it. It's free! What have you got to lose except, well nothing?

I find it kind of amusing that I'm campaigning so hard for my book on election day. Kind of fitting, no? But think of this as me sending all of you virtual bumper stickers and pins asking you to VOTE for REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

I'm Naomi and I approve this message...

Book Excerpt And Giveaway! (And Random Thoughts On The Presidential Election)

My Virtual Book Tour continues! Today, I'm featured on Bookalicious Travel Addict (love the name!). This time, I share an excerpt of BAND GEEK and readers get yet another chance to win some cool prizes in my giveaway: a FREE copy of my book, a FREE autographed copy of my CD FLUTE PATH and a FREE pair of my handmade music earrings with Swarovski crystals. All you have to do is click on the links provided at the end of the post on Bookalicious and those prizes can be all yours!

In other news, it's Election Day here in the United States. In my youth, I was never much into politics, but I've become more passionate about certain issues as I get older. This election is seriously feeling like a sports game, with fans rooting for their "team." Perhaps it's because many of us are now on Facebook, but I feel like more people are into the election this year than in years past -- and I think that's awesome. Even though not all of my friends and I are on the same page when it comes to politics, I still think that we should all get out and vote. One friend waited in line for four hours in Florida; another, who recently became an American citizen, got to vote in his first Presidential Election. It's stories like that that remind me how lucky we are to have this opportunity and how important it is to take advantage of it.

Of course, you can never travel very far in New York City without running into some interesting characters. Maybe it's because I'm always looking for the next story, but I always seem to encounter oddballs. This morning, I was riding our local bus when I heard the off-key warblings of some guy behind me. He was listening to Van Halen's "Jump" and singing along to it. Fine. I was happy to see him enjoying himself. However, every time the titular lyric, "jump" came up, he'd well, actually jump. On a very crowded bus. Nice!

At the polls, I encountered Big Burly Line Cutter. He and his group of friends attempted to slice through the line -- just when I was about to get my voter card. But I quickly zipped in front of him, blocking his path to the table. He glared at me and got into line behind me. I was really proud. I tend to avoid confrontation, but I refused to let this idiot cut me off. Stopping him was a very Melinda-like (my narrator in BAND GEEK) thing to do.

I'm debating whether I actually want to watch the election results tonight. I'm so nervous! I feel that same jumpiness that I experience when watching a gymnast attempt a routine on the balance beam. I might just turn off the TV and work on my writing. It is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) after all. Then again, I probably won't be able to stay away...

If you need to relax while waiting for election results, please read and review my novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Get My FREE Kindle Book Today!

Right now, on November 6 only, REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD is FREE on Kindle! So please head over to check it out! This offer is only for today.

The more copies that are downloaded, the higher my rank is pushed up, so please help me out. I'd LOVE to have at least 1000 copies downloaded today. It only takes two seconds to do so -- and you get a free book to enjoy. You're the winner in this scenario!

Of course, please take the time to actually read BAND GEEK once you've downloaded it. You won't be disappointed.

So today is the time to head over to Amazon and check out REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD -- for free!

FREE Kindle Book TOMORROW!

Great news! I've decided to use another one of my KDP Select FREE days. So for tomorow, November 6, 2012, only -- get my Young Adult novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD for FREE!

Of course, if you download my book, please take the time to actually read it and then review it. So far, it's getting great reviews on both Amazon and Goodreads.

BAND GEEK has a little of everything: romance, drama, family relationships, a memorable coming-of-age story... and it's extremely fast-paced. Check it out while commuting to work on the train, or while you're relaxing between classes.

So head to my Amazon page tomorrow for another FREE giveaway -- and enjoy reading REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD!