Mike Hartner Discusses #SocialMedia Tools for an #Author @MHartnerAuthor #AmWriting #WriteTip

How To Network Online to Sell Your Book

First, I must print this disclaimer. I’m not a marketing individual. And I, James, the second book of The Eternity Series which will be released in September 2014, is only the second book that I’ve tried to market. So, everything has been trial and error. But, I will borrow heavily from badredheadmedia.com’s Rachel Thompson, and several others, and the lessons they have taught me.

1. You need an Online Presence. Gmail+, FaceBook, Twitter, Pinterest…. They all have their uses. Personally, I’m on FaceBook, and Twitter.
2. Facebook has my personal page, where my family and friends reside, and then a Corporate page which is where I try to publicize The Eternity Series. And other projects that I have. BcBaldEagles.com also comes to mind. It’s also a separate corporate page. And the three pages share posts from each other.
3. Twitter is my second social media channel. @MHartnerAuthor is my identity, since Rachel once said, it’s better to publicize yourself as an author than to publicize individual books, and keep changing the identity. Son’t confuse people. Publicize yourself as an author.
4. First Rule of Social Media: It’s Social. Don’t Spam. Don’t spill every word saying ‘Buy my book’. Build relationships, show people your interests outside of writing. If you’re interested in Nutella, and Alaskam wilderness cabins, show that. If it’s quilting, crocheting and flowers you’re interested in, show that. Let people meet the REAL you.
5. Pluggio and hootsuite are great tools. Pluggio allows you to ‘drip’ every few hours news topics of your interest. Hootsuite allows you to post on more than one site from a consolidated dashboard. Both are useful.
6. Don’t expect everyone who follows you to remain. But help them by not including expletives in every second post, or every third word. Show them that you can enjoy life as much as it can frustrate you.

Social Networks allow you to reach out to a lot of other people. AS much as you want others to follow you, follow them. Find others with your interest. Other authors, other Nutella aficionados, other quilters, whatever… By following a wide range of others, a wide range of them will follow you.

BLOG, or get blog tours. Blog tours are GREAT exposure for your book. They usually have a wide and diverse cross section of reviewers, who are all interested, to some extent, in your writing.

HELP OTHERS. If you can help others with your lessons, do. If you can Share other’s posts, announcements, etc… chances are they’ll share yours. And your messages will get out to people you never expected.

90/10 Rule. At least 90 percent of your posts and blogs should be focused on things OTHER THAN selling your book. Great reviews are one thing you can announce more often. Share Reviews of books you’ve read. Even better if they’re current books (last five years). Even Better if you’re following the author when you post the review.

ENGAGE your audience. Snippets, comments, and reviews of everyone’s work are great things to post. Top Ten lists about your life, about your hobbies… all of these build audience.

And while you’re building audience, but not screaming BUY MY BOOK, chances are some people will buy it.

And that’s what makes social media so great. Being Social.

James Crofter was ripped from his family at age 11. 
Within a year the prince was a pauper in a foreign land. 
Is nature stronger than nurture? And even if it is, can James find the happiness he so richly desires? 

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Genre - Historical Fiction, Romance

Rating – PG

More details about the author

Connect with Mike Hartner on Facebook & Twitter

#Excerpt from LOCK READY by James Rada Jr. @JimRada #Historical #Fiction #MustRead

This excerpt provides a view of what life around the Cumberland Basin on the C&O Canal was like.

David stepped into the large warehouse at the southern end of the canal basin in Cumberland. The bay doors had been swung open to allow sunlight to shine on the work going on inside. However, it also meant that the warehouse stayed cold inside. It was nothing more than a very long barn. The difference was that this barn housed canal boats not livestock. The Lewis Boatworks was one of a handful of boat yards in Cumberland that built and repaired canal boats for canallers.

During the summer, some work could be done outdoors if the warehouse had a large enough yard, but there was a greater risk of sabotage from Confederate sympathizers, railroaders or simply hooligans against the exposed canal boats. Confederate raiders or sympathizers had burned the bridge from Cumberland to Ridgeley, West Virginia, and torn up the B&O Railroad track outside of Cumberland early in the war. Because of that, Amos Lewis preferred to construct his boats indoors and them roll them on logs out the warehouse doors that opened onto the Cumberland Basin.

David saw three men hammering boards that would become the roof of the family cabin onto the cabin frame. The boats on the C&O Canal were all roughly the same shape and length in order to fit into the seventy-four lift locks along the canal. The boats were each ninety-two feet long. Most were made of Georgia pine, though new boats being built were understandably made of trees harvested in the north. The largest area on a canal boat was the cargo holds, which made up about eighty percent of the space on a boat. The remaining space was taken up by three cabins; a family cabin and a mule shed sat on opposite ends of the canal boat, and a hay house was located in the middle of the boat.

David could smell creosote and wood and hear men talking and laughing as they worked on the canal boat. He had once been surprised that Cumberland, which was a city in the mountains, had a reputation for shipbuilding, but after working on the canal, he knew it was deserved. From here, the canal boats could be ordered by individual captains or the Consolidated Coal Company and launched at the canal basin to be filled with coal.

Cumberland was an important shipbuilding city because the C&O Canal was the lifeline for getting coal from the mountains of Western Maryland to Washington City. Access to coal was one of the reasons that the first destination for both the C&O Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad had been to reach Cumberland.

The C&O Canal and the B&O Railroad both began construction on July 4, 1828; the canal from Washington and the railroad from Baltimore. In the following years, the canal was delayed by an extended legal battle at Point of Rocks, fighting for the right of way and by Mother Nature near Paw Paw, Virginia, to dig the Paw Paw Tunnel. By the time the canal reached Cumberland in 1850, the railroad had already been there and operating for eight years.

The need for coal had allowed both businesses to survive and grow. It was particularly important now because portions of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad kept changing hands between the Confederacy and the Union. Part of the railroad’s right-of-way ran through West Virginia, which still had strong Southern sympathies despite the fact the Unionists had gathered enough support to break West Virginia off from Virginia to form a new Union state. The C&O Canal had proven to be fairly reliable in getting much-needed coal to the capital city, despite the Confederacy’s efforts to stop boating on the canal.

The Civil War split the United States and now it has split the Fitzgerald Family. Although George Fitzgerald has returned from the war, his sister Elizabeth Fitzgerald has chosen to remain in Washington to volunteer as a nurse. The ex-Confederate spy, David Windover, has given up on his dream of being with Alice Fitzgerald and is trying to move on with his life in Cumberland, Md. Alice and her sons continue to haul coal along the 184.5-mile-long C&O Canal. It is dangerous work, though, during war time because the canal runs along the Potomac River and between the North and South. 

Having had to endured death and loss already, Alice wonders whether remaining on the canal is worth the cost. She wants her family reunited and safe, but she can’t reconcile her feelings between David and her dead husband. Her adopted son, Tony, has his own questions that he is trying to answer. He wants to know who he is and if his birth mother ever loved him. As he tries to find out more about his birth mother and father, he stumbles onto a plan by Confederate sympathizers to sabotage the canal and burn dozens of canal boats. 

He enlists David’s help to try and disrupt the plot before it endangers his new family, but first they will have find out who is behind the plot.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Historical Fiction

Rating – PG-13

More details about the author

Connect with James Rada Jr. on Facebook & Twitter

Website jamesrada.com

ANNA'S SECRET by @MargaretWestlie #Historical #Fiction #Mystery

“You finish chores,” said Ian after the milking was done. “I must go to a meeting at the church, and I’m late as it is.”

Donald shrugged and kept on working.

“I’ll not be late. Don’t forget to skim the milk and wash out the buckets.”

Donald didn’t reply.

Ian turned away. He’s so sullen these days I don’t know how to approach him. Ian reviewed the events of the last few months as he hurried into the porch and poured a dipperful of water into the battered tin wash pan. I wonder if I should trim my beard, he thought. I haven’t done it lately. He regarded himself in the watery mirror and rubbed his hand across his face. I don’t have time if I’m to meet Angus. He dipped his hands into the cool water and rubbed a little soap on them. Clean will have to do. We’ll soon be out of soap. Anna was just about ready to make soap when she died.

His heart seemed to turn over in his chest at the sudden memory of Anna tending the soap kettle in the yard, her auburn hair, made a little untidy by the wind and the heat of the task, shining in the sunlight, her strong body bent and turned as she wielded the paddle. He remembered his surprise that she knew how to make soap when he married her. She seemed so young to know the things she knew. I thought I was marrying a child and it was a woman I married. The knot of pain in his heart seemed to tighten. He turned and scrubbed vigorously at his face with the rough towel to banish the tightness. He forced his mind on to practical things. I wonder would Mary make me some soap when she’s making her own if I gave her the fat Anna’d been saving. He buttoned on a clean shirt, the wrinkles in it a testament to his ineptitude with the smoothing iron.

At last he was striding up the hill and was soon passing the place where so few months ago Anna had lain in such stillness. He hurried past the spot and did not look at it. He shivered. A hint of night cold was already on the breeze. Somewhere an owl hooted and the rustle of small animals sounded softly in the stubble of the hay field. A twig cracked in Old Rory’s wood. Ian’s heart raced then slowed. It’s nothing, he comforted himself. He looked in the direction of the woods. The rustle of leaves ceased and a faint glow seemed to disappear as Ian turned his head to look directly at it. His heart raced again. He looked straight ahead and strode on even faster. He looked out the corner of his eye. The glow seemed to be still there but when he looked at it directly, it disappeared. He hurried on until his shins began to hurt and he was forced to slow his pace. I’ll walk backwards for a bit. He turned around. The glow that wasn’t there turned with him and seemed to hover over the path he had just traversed. He stopped his backward pace and stood, frozen there by his imagination. The light continued on toward him. Rough voices sounded on the night air but in his fear Ian was unable to take them in.

Anna Gillis, the midwife and neighbour in Mattie’s Story, has been found killed. The close-knit community is deeply shaken by this eruption of violence, and neighbours come together to help one another and to discover the perpetrator. But the answer lies Anna’s secret, long guarded by Old Annie, the last of the original Selkirk Settlers, and the protagonist of An Irregular Marriage. Join the community! Read Anna’s Secret and other novels by Margaret A. Westlie.

Buy Now @ Amazon & Smashwords

Genre – Fiction, mystery, historical

Rating – G

More details about the author

 Connect with Margaret Westlie on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.margaretwestlie.com

5* for The Deadly Playground, 1914 by Robert Carter @NovelRob #ReviewShare #HistFic #TBR

The Deadly Playground, 1914 by Robert Carter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My first impression was - The cover and the first two chapters are not that great. The cover looks like a resized image with text slapped on it and the beginning was slow. Remember how we had to wait three series for Mary and Matthew to get together in Downton? This was even slower than that.

As I got to the middle, I felt - I was immersed. Historical fiction especially ones related to war and relationships are personal. Look at it from left or right, top or bottom, it is that emotional bond between the characters that will pull you in. I was gone by now. I had cried, I had smiled and I had sighed. I wanted the best for the family and I wanted to know how it all ended.

As I neared the end, I thought - Robert Carter's writing struck a chord with me. Some readers might say he has too much attention to detail but I like this in books because it takes me back and places me right in the centre of the scene.

My final impression and recommendations - I loved it and now I can't believe I have to wait for the next in the series. Highly recommended. If you liked Jeffrey Archer's Clifton Chronicles, this book will be your new favourite.

Disclosure - As a Quality Reads UK Book Club member, I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I received no monetary compensation for my book review. This book review is based on my thoughts, opinion and understanding of the book. This book review does not reflect the opinion of other book club members.

@AlexMueck on Writing & Self-Publishing #WriteTip #AmWriting #Humor

Pet Peeves of the Publishing Industry

Seems rather hard to break into the business, and everything moves at a snail’s pace.  

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Becoming a Published Author

 You really need an agent.  2.  The process to completing book and getting it out is a slow wait.  3 There are many indie publishers/authors.  4.  It is more about getting a break and knowing someone than talent sometimes.  5.  

How to Avoid the Rejection Blues

Don’t submit your book, and you will never get rejection blues……thus you need to get over rejection quick or like a shy guy at a bar, you will go through life alone.  You need to realize that some people like vanilla some like chocolate and you cannot please everyone.  

Why Book Covers are So Important

They draw the reader.  Most humans are drawn to visuals first.

What to Look for in an Agent

Someone who believes in your work, has the time to devote their energies and has the contacts to achieve succees.

Tips for Becoming a Better Writer

Practice as much as possible.  Read books with a writer’s eye to help improve your own craft. Be open to suggestion and re-edits.

How to Sell Your First Novel

First use your friends and family to get some sales and reviews, then PR them through blog tours, written reviews and social media. 

Booksigning Tips to Sell That Book

Advertise, have displays, ie, Blown up reviews of your book or book covers.  Script what you plan to say and discuss.  Remain comfortable.

How I Made My First Sale

I called my parents and told them if they did not buy my book I would not come over and mow their lawn again….kidding of course

““A historical fiction comedy that packs
as much heart as humor.”
—Michael Dadich, award-winning author of The Silver Sphere

When a Harvard history professor receives a thesis paper titled Jesse James and the Secret Legend of Captain Coytus, from Ulysses Hercules Baxter—an underwhelming student—he assumes the paper must be a prank. He has never read such maniacal balderdash in his life. But after he calls a meeting with the student, Professor Gladstone is dismayed when Baxter declares the work is his own. As he takes a very unwilling Professor Gladstone back in time via his thesis, Baxter’s grade hangs in the balance as he attempts to prove his theory.

It is 1864 as philanderer and crusader Captain Coytus embarks on a mission to avenge his father’s death and infiltrates the Confederate Bushwacker posse looking for the man responsible, Jesse Woodson James. Accompanied by the woman of his dreams, Coytus soon finds himself temporarily appointed to be the sheriff of Booneville and commissions his less-than-loyal deputy to help him carry out his plan.

But when tragedy strikes, the Captain is forced to change his immature ways and redefine his lofty mission—more or less.”

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Genre - Humor, Historical Fiction

Rating – R

More details about the author

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Constantinopolis by James Shipman @jshipman_author #HistFic #AmReading #GoodReads

“What do we know?” asked Constantine finally.

Loukas Notaras, as military commander and essentially Constantine’s second in command, began.

“I’m sure Sphrantzes informed you of the sinking of this ship and of the rumors regarding the army massing near Edirne?”

“Yes, he gave me a brief summary of both issues. Do you know anything else?”

“I can confirm through spies that there were survivors from the Venetian galley, including the captain. They are apparently being marched to Edirne under heavy guard. I don’t think there is any chance we could intercept and free them.

I don’t know anything more at this point about this mysterious army at Edirne. I do know they have had summer camps in that location many times, and they didn’t necessarily move on the city. It is a little more unusual that they are doing so in the fall. I think we have to take the threat very seriously.”
“We’ve been expecting this for some time, although I was hopeful that Halil and the others could keep this young monster in check.” The Emperor turned to Sphrantzes. “Do we have any inside information about what is going on with Mehmet?”

“I don’t have anyone close on the inside my Lord. Our best spies were moved out of the Sultan’s household when Murad died. I haven’t been able to get anyone close enough to find out what’s going on in Mehmet’s council meetings.”

“So we’re blind here.” Constantine paused. “Loukas, how are we set to deal with this?”

“My Lord, as you are aware, our city walls have fallen into some disrepair. There are cracks and even holes in some of walls. Many of the towers have not been used in years. Perhaps even more alarming, the great ditch, the Foss in front of the outer wall, has been largely filled in over time. We haven’t had the resources to dig out the ditch or maintain it, nor to repair the walls. In addition, we don’t have enough soldiers, even with volunteers, to adequately man the land walls, let alone the sea walls.”

“What resources do we have in the city?”

“We can ask for all of the churches to contribute everything they can, gold, plate, silver, donated coin. We also can ask the same of our citizens. As you know My Lord, over the past hundred years or more, we have had to make these requests again and again. There simply aren’t sufficient resources remaining in the city to gather significant wealth. However, we can make the request and it will certainly result in some new treasure to pay for soldiers and food.”

“But where will the soldiers and food come from?” asked the Emperor.

“That’s just the problem My Lord. The Sultan has effectively cut off the Black Sea. We are not able to easily receive aid from our remaining colonies in that area or from the Georgians or Trebizonds. We could sneak some ships past those forts but this recent sinking will certainly make captains hesitant to run the strait, and I doubt the Ottomans would let soldiers, arms or grain past, even if the captain paid the fee.”

“What about the ambassadors we sent out to the West, to the Venetians, Genoese, and to Naples? Any word from them?” Constantine had not waited for a crisis to try to prepare the city. He had worked tirelessly since his ascension to prepare Constantinople for a siege. One of the key components was aid from the west, and he had recently sent a new round of ambassadors out to beg assistance from various cities and kingdoms.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Historical Fiction

Rating – PG

More details about the author and the book

Connect with  James Shipman on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://james-shipman.com

Yves Fey & Her Artist Heroine @YvesFey #Historical #Mystery #MustRead

My Artist Heroine and Her Impressionist Compatriots

In the Belle Époque, Paris is at the height of its artistic Renaissance. It’s an era of great freedom—for men. Like any other woman artist of the time, Theo has to battle prejudice. There were only a handful of women painters who had any recognition or success. Women’s painting was devalued because they were assumed inferior to men. Their opportunities, their lives, were constrained by society, and then they were criticized for their lack of scope. As a sop, they were considered to have a better eye for detail, for the minutiae of daily life, but to lack the metal acuity to present the grand idea. Domestic arts such as embroidery were promoted as a more feminine hobby than painting, and if women did want to be amateurs, the softer mediums, watercolor and pastel were encouraged as more feminine than oils.

This painting is by Marie Bashkirtseff, a Ukrainian painter and sculptor. The subject is the Académie Julien, one of the top schools for painting in Paris. Most women and foreign students went to such painting academies, or to professional artists’ ateliers. Theo is a student at the Académie Julien which happily accepted women in their classes—simply charging them double for the privilege of attending.

At the Académie, Theo would study classical painting techniques and also learn from the leading contemporary innovators. Many students preferred the academies because they were more open to experimental techniques, but some students attended them only to increase their proficiency before applying to the famous École des Beaux Arts. Until 1897 women were not admitted to the Beaux-Arts. When, after years of broken promises, the Beaux Arts did allow a couple of women into its hallowed halls, the male students rioted and threw them out in the street. My heroine is there for the protest.

Even though the École and the traditional Salons still had some power at the fin-de-siècle, that power had been waning ever since the rise of the Impressionists. Nonetheless, the grand salons gave the selected artists great visibility. Art played a major part in popular culture—200,000 people would come to view the paintings in the month they were displayed. Success there could still make or break a career.

Of the women Impressionists, American artist Mary Cassatt is the most well-known. Early in her career, she had some success with the prestigious but conservative Salon. Nonetheless, she soon broke with tradition to pursue the new mode of Impressionism. Her work was championed by Degas, but, while she could her to exhibit her work in their shows, in the 1870s and 80s, it was still improper for her to sit and chat with them in the cafés.

Another marvelous Impressionist artist was Berthe Morisot, who exchanged innovative ideas and techniques with Manet. She had a long a varied career. This painting looks like something Theo might have painted.

Eva Gonzalès was also a student of Manet, and his influence is seen in some of her work, though she developed her own style as well. Although she died young, she left behind a large and varied body of work.

I love the distinctive work of Marie Braquemond, though we have only a few paintings with her wonderful glowing light. Her artist husband disapproved of her use of the Impressionist technique and demanded she abandon it.

Those women were from bourgeois families. Born the daughter of a laundress, Suzanne Valadon became a circus acrobat. After injuring herself, she modeled for all the prominent male Impressionists of the day. Learning from them, she became a unique and dynamic painter in her own right. In a future book in the series, she and my heroine will become friends.

Young American painter Theodora Faraday struggles to become an artist in Belle Époque Paris. She’s tasted the champagne of success, illustrating poems for the Revenants, a group of poets led by her adored cousin, Averill. When children she knows vanish mysteriously, Theo confronts Inspecteur Michel Devaux who suspects the Revenants are involved. Theo refuses to believe the killer could be a friend—could be the man she loves. Classic detection and occult revelation lead Michel and Theo through the dark underbelly of Paris, from catacombs to asylums, to the obscene ritual of a Black Mass. 

Following the maze of clues they discover the murderer believes he is the reincarnation of the most evil serial killer in the history of France—Gilles de Rais. Once Joan of Arc’s lieutenant, after her death he plunged into an orgy of evil. The Church burned him at the stake for heresy, sorcery, and the depraved murder of hundreds of peasant children. Whether deranged mind or demonic passion incite him, the killer must be found before he strikes again.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Historical Mystery

Rating – R

More details about the author

Connect with Yves Fey on Facebook & Twitter

Fenella J. MIller on Self-Doubt, Fear & Writing @FenellaWriter #amreading #historical #fiction

Tell us a bit about your family.

I have an exotic heritage of which I am very proud. My father was from Yorkshire, the son of a schoolteacher and became a squadron leader in the war. My mother was Anglo-Indian, the only daughter of the eldest son of the Rajah of Tajpur. I have written two books about an Anglo-Indian girl which open in 1939 in India. This first part of the first book is based on my mother's memoirs, although the characters are entirely fictional. I married at 18 and am still with the same man after almost 50 years – I have two wonderful adult children and three amazing grandchildren.

How do you work through self-doubt and fear?

When I started writing full-time almost 10 years ago I wrote with little regard for publisher or reader. This gives a writer the most incredible freedom and spontaneity – once I was published I had to write what my publishers wanted, to a deadline, and accept even the most heavy-handed editorial input with good grace. Constant criticism can harm your writing and produce self-doubt. This is the main reason I no longer write for a traditional publisher but publish my own books. Employing an editor, proof-reader and cover designer is quite different from having them imposed on you. I have just completed the first new novel in more than a year and I'm certain my inability to write was caused by the way one of my publishers behaved.

What scares you the most?

I don't like being high up or being in an enclosed space – but I wouldn't say that I am actually scared of these. What scares me is getting older and one day not being able to write any more or control my environment.

What makes you the happiest?

I'm basically an optimistic person, I enjoy the small pleasures in life. Such as seeing my family, a day out with my friends, a walk along the riverbank when the tide is up, watching an excellent film with my husband, reading a new Lee Child. However I am never truly happy unless I am writing.

What is your greatest character strength?

Determination.

What is your weakest character trait?

Eating chocolate.

Why do you write?

I write because I have to. It's the reason I get up in the morning and go to bed content in the evening. Much as I love my family and friends without writing my life would not be the same.

What writing are you most proud of?

I don't know that I'm proud of anything I've written – what makes me proud is that readers tell me they've enjoyed my book, that I get good reviews, that people stop me in the street to tell me they enjoyed my latest book. I take my work seriously and hope I'm improving with everything I write. I think of my work as two separate sections: Regency romantic adventure and mainstream historical – the latter are the books I hope people buy in paperback and want to keep on their shelf.

What are you most proud of in your personal life?

That is far easier to answer – I am immensely proud of my children and grandchildren and the fact that my husband and I have somehow, against all the odds, managed to stay in a happy relationship all these years.

What books did you love growing up?

Enid Blyton's Famous Five books and Adventure books, I still have some of my bookshelves. I loved fairy tales and fantasies, but by the time I was ten I was reading in the adult section. Leslie Charteris, Agatha Christie, Jules Verne, HG Wells, then onto the Brontë sisters, Dickens, Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. In between the adult books I was addicted to pony stories, Lorna Hill was a particular favourite.

Who is your favourite author?

Bernard Cornwall (historical) and Lee Child (thrillers).

What books should everybody read at least once?

Shakespeare and Dickens, Jane Austen and the Brontes, after that it's entirely a personal choice.

World War II brings divided loyalties and tough decisions in this page turning drama from Fenella Miller.

Hannah Austen-Bagshaw’s privileged background can’t stop her falling in love with working-class pilot, Jack, but Hannah has a secret. Torn between her duty and her humanity, she is sheltering a young German pilot knowing she risks being arrested as a traitor. Hannah’s worst fears are realised when Jack finds out what she has done and their love begins to unravel.
Will her betrayal be too much for Jack to forgive?

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Historical fiction

Rating – PG

More details about the author

Connect with Fenella J. Miller on Facebook & Twitter