There will be a rain dance Friday night, weather permitting ~ George Carlin
One of the things I've had to get used to living in the UK is the complete lack of summer. Well, maybe not a complete lack, but there sure isn't much of it. We had a couple weeks of gorgeous weather last month and now the rain gods are paying us back big time.
Never mind. At least it's an excuse to curl up with a good book and some hot cocoa. I also find rainy days very conducive to writing.
Yeah, baby! That's what I'm talkin' about! But I digress...
The point is that the awesome Samantha made an effort to connect with me. As a person and as a fellow lover of books. And that made me want to read her books. So I headed over to Amazon and downloaded one then and there.
This is how to market, people. Not with slick, shiny, in-your-face ads, but with connections. Conversation. If you want to know more about effective Twittering and Sacred Cow Tipping, I highly recommend checking out Kristen Lamb's blog. You'll thank me later.
Now how about YOU? What have you been reading this week?
Never mind. At least it's an excuse to curl up with a good book and some hot cocoa. I also find rainy days very conducive to writing.
We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. ~Japanese Proverb
Great picture of me, huh?
Bwahahaha!!! Yeah, I know. Totally not me. Put me in a Brazilian samba club and I stick out like a sore thumb. But not because I can't dance. I can dance, baby! Boy, can I dance. ;-)
Last night I went dancing with my work peeps. Sort of a good-bye to one of the girls who is headed back to Brazil. I haven't been dancing in ages and it was so invigorating. When you spend so much time hunched over a keyboard, locked inside the ravings of your own lunatic mind, it's good to get out and get your groove thang on.
Or maybe that's just me. But I highly recommend a good old booty shake from time to time. Just to shake up the creative juices.
Bwahahaha!!! Yeah, I know. Totally not me. Put me in a Brazilian samba club and I stick out like a sore thumb. But not because I can't dance. I can dance, baby! Boy, can I dance. ;-)
Last night I went dancing with my work peeps. Sort of a good-bye to one of the girls who is headed back to Brazil. I haven't been dancing in ages and it was so invigorating. When you spend so much time hunched over a keyboard, locked inside the ravings of your own lunatic mind, it's good to get out and get your groove thang on.
Or maybe that's just me. But I highly recommend a good old booty shake from time to time. Just to shake up the creative juices.
Books are a uniquely portable magic. ~ Stephen King
This week I've been reading Stephen King's On Writing. I think it should be a must read for any writer or aspiring writer. Heck, even if you have no interest in writing, it's still a great read. Part autobiography and part how-to, it read just like one of his novels. I'm a little over a third of the way through.
I also finished Janet Evanovich's latest installment in her Stephanie Plum series: Smokin' Seventeen. Hilarious as ever.
I was reading indie author Theresa Ragan's novel A Knight in Central Park before I got sidetracked by Evanovich. Before I get back to it, I thought I'd enjoy a quick read, so I downloaded a novella by Samantha Warren. It's the first in her Vampire Assassin series. I read more than half of it during my lunch break and will probably finish the rest on my ride home. It's a great read for a great price.
And speaking of Samantha, let me tell you a little story about WHY I bought her novella. Just in case you were wondering?
Us indie authors (and I imagine authors in general) often wonder how to promote our books. As a reader, I don't think I had any real awareness of just how hard it is to do. But as both reader and writer I do know that slapping your book (literally or figuratively) in someone's face and screaming "Read my book!" isn't the way to do it.
Samantha didn't do that. Instead she responded to a Tweet I made. I responded back. We had a "brief" conversation that had nothing to do with either of our novels and everything to do with reading, movies, and Firefly.
I also finished Janet Evanovich's latest installment in her Stephanie Plum series: Smokin' Seventeen. Hilarious as ever.
I was reading indie author Theresa Ragan's novel A Knight in Central Park before I got sidetracked by Evanovich. Before I get back to it, I thought I'd enjoy a quick read, so I downloaded a novella by Samantha Warren. It's the first in her Vampire Assassin series. I read more than half of it during my lunch break and will probably finish the rest on my ride home. It's a great read for a great price.
And speaking of Samantha, let me tell you a little story about WHY I bought her novella. Just in case you were wondering?
Us indie authors (and I imagine authors in general) often wonder how to promote our books. As a reader, I don't think I had any real awareness of just how hard it is to do. But as both reader and writer I do know that slapping your book (literally or figuratively) in someone's face and screaming "Read my book!" isn't the way to do it.
Samantha didn't do that. Instead she responded to a Tweet I made. I responded back. We had a "brief" conversation that had nothing to do with either of our novels and everything to do with reading, movies, and Firefly.
Yeah, baby! That's what I'm talkin' about! But I digress...
The point is that the awesome Samantha made an effort to connect with me. As a person and as a fellow lover of books. And that made me want to read her books. So I headed over to Amazon and downloaded one then and there.
This is how to market, people. Not with slick, shiny, in-your-face ads, but with connections. Conversation. If you want to know more about effective Twittering and Sacred Cow Tipping, I highly recommend checking out Kristen Lamb's blog. You'll thank me later.
Now how about YOU? What have you been reading this week?
