In Which I Try to Face My Failure to Organize

Know how I hate pants? Makes it hard to apply a “Fly by the seat of the pants” methodology to keeping track of stuff and scrambling to meet the next deadline. I do alright (one word—west coast girls are language rebels and alright means just okay, where all right means ALL RIGHT which is perfect, not alright, but I digress) *cough* Anyway... Fine for the writing, but I have been BAD about all the little stuff, and some of that LITTLE stuff for ME can be BIG stuff for YOU... like announcing book releases, covers... doing that promoting of my friends so when it's my turn, I don't feel like a heel for asking.

I've been wondering if maybe a community calendar might serve us all well. ONE place where we all put our own important dates (maybe limit how many each of us gets so nobody goes nuts) but that A BUNCH of us could use to track book releases in particular, but maybe also a couple huge promotional things.

Does something like this already exist and as usual, I am the last to know?

If not...

I'm not sure the best location for this... is it a blog we are all allowed to edit? (that seems messy). A shared Google doc we can all check regularly? I'm willing to take advice here. I think it could help a BUNCH of us. And if it is EASY I could set it up, but it is highly probable it is above my tech-savviness. (taking volunteers...)

I could just keep a calendar, but I already know I find out SO MUCH last minute or late that it doesn't give me a chance to help much, and I really DO want to help.

Anybody else have an interest in this? Suggestions for how to go about it? Tricks you already do?

Maybe it is even we keep our own calendars but put together an email list for people who agree?

A Blog maybe isn't the most ideal place for a conversation, but that is sort of what I'd like to start if people have ideas... maybe we can problem solve.

So How Did It Go?

I'm glad you asked... and if you didn't ask and don't know what I'm talking about, let me explain... no, is too much, let me sum up:

Thursday (because it's the most naked day) I released Book 2 (In Short Supply) of my serial and at the same time offered A Flock of Ill Omens (Book 1) for FREE.

Conclusion: People like free stuff.

See. Now you're smarter.


But if you want specifics:

I gave away 227 copies of A Flock of Ill Omens in at least 6 countries (190 in the US, 17 in the UK, and 3 each in Germany, India and Canada). It's actually more countries, as Amazon only has 9 they track. In addition, I SOLD some copies to either side of the free day, and have thus far sold 11 copies of the second. I'm not moving mountains, but if I add that to what I gave away prior to releasing, (and counter for duplicates, as there are some) I think I have nearly 300 copies out there of the first... That's not terrible. And look at THIS:

Did you SEE the #2? I spent all afternoon there!!! I was as high as #68 in free thrillers. Never passed under the thousand mark for free books overall, but I'm pretty happy, considering I have mostly sat over 100,000. Best I can tell, a book a day sits you right on that 100,000 rank mark for the paid store.

I have no idea how the 'bestseller' titles get bandied about. I don't think I'm there, but it was very fun to watch all day.

I plan to offer the first free AGAIN when the 3rd is released (October 10), and again for the 4th (October 31)


I really want to thank all of YOU for helping me out! My friends who helped spread the word really made it all possible.

In Other News...

It's Fall... ACK!

Don't get me wrong. Fall itself is already with me. I like warm days and crisp nights, apple flavored stuff, fall beer options... My PROBLEM with it is this...

And the dreaded winter will arrive well before the 4th season of Game of Thrones or the 6th book of the Song of Ice and Fire series...

Like Crack (My Nefarious Plan)

This is my plan *BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHA*. It's my theory that a serial's success is dependent on how addictive it is. So I am taking a little time to study successful drug dealers.

You think I'm kidding?

Well, okay, mostly I'm kidding. Except not really. Because it makes sense.

And see, once you READ this ill make sense *shifty*

FIRST, I offer up a sampling for free... a BIG sample. It has to be enough to hook somebody, after all... So I plan on offering this puppy (only it's not really a puppy—it's a 100-page book) to ANYBODY WHO WANTS IT.

Got that? You want to read it? It's FREE! Now Kindle won't let me ALWAYS have it free—they are stinkers that way. But they WILL let me have some free DAYS, so for each successive book, I will give the first away, but I am going farther... I am just offering it up to alla y'all here... you want it? Just tell me. And as soon as it's ready, I will send it to you.

I am starting a LIST—so just gimme your email --my email link here works if you'd rather send it privately than posting  (unless you know I have it already—then just shout).

I will ALSO ask you to officially download it on that first free day, just so it goes into my numbers (and so if you want to review, you are a 'verified' reader... And I WOULD appreciate reviews on it... But I am not requiring it. I just wanna HOOK YOU! *cough*

See how glamorous you'll be!

The NEXT drug dealer lesson is then not letting it be too long between doses, or you will get through withdrawal and may not NEED the next one. So Book 2 will be just 2 weeks after book 1... And then Book 3 just 3 weeks after that. I am hoping by that point to have you all good and addicted and then I can set you up in a brothel... wait. No, wrong story.

And HEADS UP!

Reserve the date! September 5 is MINE—a wee blog fest if you don't mind... I will put the details up on Wednesday.

In Praise of Sir Oracle: Joris Ammerlaan

So you've all heard me talk about my little buddy, Joris, right? Well today it's his birthday, and he is still trying to build his graphic design business, so I thought I'd share with all of you some of the coolnesses he has created.

As a designer, Joris  is thoughtful, choosing eye-catching, often minimalist designs. He is speedy, creative and reasonable, and if you are in the market for a book cover, poster, or other promotional materials, I strongly recommend him. But it is probably best to let his work speak for him.


Take this bit of cleverness for instance... The first pic is the front and back and the second is the same thing folded into a kite for distribution:

And then we have a few posters that COULD be book covers...

And a couple ACTUAL book covers...

So you can see his range—he does some amazing stuff. I encourage you to give him a shot if you have something you'd like designed!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JORIS! I have a line-up of four score young blondes and brunettes between sixteen and nineteen and a half ready to give you your spankings!


More of Joris's work can be seen here.

Resorting to Memes

I think you all know my mind has been scattered of late... there are reasonable reasons, but that doesn't make the chaos any less. I've decided in the short term, I think playing with a couple memes might be the way to go.

How is it possible I didn't think of this...

I'm not normally a meme girl. What. What's that? Are there people who don't know what memes ARE? (Is that even possible?) Well, for anyone unsure, a meme is a day of the week theme... We do them at Burrowers, Books and Balderdash, though there I think it's easier as we have eight of us, so we each only hit a given meme about once every other month.

But I've been thinking maybe that memes might help me make some sense of the madness in my life and head. I only plan to do this through February and March, as I know my attention span is limited and so that is probably as much as I can do on one topic without running out of steam, so to speak...

And I only plan to do the memes a couple days a week as I am not very good with rules and know I will have OTHER things I want to write about. So without further ado... here are the themes you can expect for the next little while:

TMI Tuesday

You know me. TMI is really a lifestyle choice. So I will rant, share, spew, spill and whine... but only on Tuesday. Mostly.



Weighty Wednesday (except on the first Wednesday)

The couch to keg program is back on. And I really need to seriously get to the eating thing...

Arriba! Arriba! Andale!

And finally, Friday Fiesta

I am going to TRY (and this isn't my strength, so bear with me) to keep track of my friends' successes and throw a little party for them—a raw raw if you will for the successes I see over the week. (I'd LOVE if you'd all help me out here—email me or leave a post here if you spot a success among our blogging community. My attention span is too short and I will surely miss a lot without the help.

So that's the plan. BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHA

*cough *

Divine Order

So I've been paying a fair bit of attention for a few years now... New authors launching social campaigns... Hopeful Authors launching social campaigns... And I've learned something YOU need to know...


Build Following FIRST, Book Launch AFTER.

Here is why:

1)  If you launch to promote, people will shun your one-trick pony, but if you launch when it's promotion time and FAIL to promote, the opportunity is lost. You need to prove yourself interesting in ABSENSE of promotion, and THEN launch... then the launch may in fact be perceived as ALSO interesting.

2)  You need to PAY IT FORWARD. Nobody has a reason to TRUST you will PAY BACK. If you start up for a promo, in fact, there is every reason to believe that's all you've got. If you promote OTHER authors first (for one to a dozen years) BEFORE you launch, you have collateral for others to shout from the rooftops (or car hoods, or gutters, depending on your audience) when it is your turn.

Work it! If you promote for others, let them KNOW! Otherwise... they don't KNOW! If you know what I mean... I mean surely it's good karma to promote books of others ANYWAY, but this networking thing works better if you reinforce the connections...


And while that is a WISE bit of wisdom I just shared with you, it is all I got today... and probably I will have nothing at ALL tomorrow, as I have a HOUSE GUEST coming! I will try to blog Saturday to make up for my negligence...

In he MEAN TIME....

It's Thursday, you know what THAT means!