I Might Be Crazy... Time Will Tell

Well, I've finally reached that moment I've been waiting for. Always & Forever's publication plan is on track and things will start on September 14, 2012. I'm really excited to send Zach and Lilly out into the world and see what people think. I've loved creating them, living in their world, going through their struggles with them. I hope other people enjoy reading the book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

There is so much associated with publishing a book. I'm so busy getting everything ready that my head is spinning. It goes much further than writing the book and being done with it. You have to get the cover art, hire an editor, write the blurb, come up with an author bio. Not to mention read the book a ton of times trying to catch any errors you and your editor might have both missed (already found some of these and I have advanced readers on the lookout for anything else). On top of that, there now comes marketing. How do I get the word out about my book and let people know when it goes on sale?

I already joined the wonderful world of Twitter, I'm on Triberr, and I have some followers for this blog. I figure I'm a step up in the world as far as beginning marketing. However, for a new release it is important to spread word to the masses. Most of the people who know about me are authors, and while I greatly appreciate their support and the friendships I've made along the way, what I really need to reach are readers.  I already have a small base of reading fans through friends and family who are advanced readers, and I know they will be out there selling my book for me. But I need a bigger reach.

Entire blog touring. I knew about this in theory, but I wasn't sure how to implement it in practice. Well, all I really had to do was ask. I'm so amazed by all the generous folks who have agreed to interview me, do book spotlights, and just be a part of helping me spread the word for my book release. You all should check out their blogs in the meantime, but I'll remind everyone either through here or on Twitter when the blog tour starts. So many people reached out to help me, that now I'm worried about getting everything completed in time. Even though it's added a layer of stress, I am so thankful and grateful to all these wonderful people for their kind help.

You can get links to the other blogs and see my schedule by clicking on the tab above that says Always & Forever Blog Tour.  You can also read my finalized blurb and the first two chapters of my book by clicking on the tab that says Always & Forever.

Have a great rest of your week, everyone! On Friday I will have another author spotlight highlighting the work of my good friend and critique buddy, Michele Shriver.  Visit her blog at http://micheleshriver.com/ in the meantime.

~ Chantel 

Now I Have to Network?

So, I made the decision to self-publish.  After agonizing over that for weeks, I finally stuck to my decision.  What now?

Now, I enter the wonderful world of promotion (important for self-pub and traditional alike).  I already started this blog (and if you are thinking about starting your own blog, I've personally been happy with Blogger--and it's free)  and then I bought the domain name for my web site.  What did I have left to do?

Boy, it's a good thing I've found a few friends along the way to clue me in!

My first stop was World Literary Cafe.  This web site includes a lot of information for the aspiring author or the published.  It is a place for readers and writers to connect.  Mostly, I've been trying to build my network, so I became interested in the follow programs for both Facebook and Twitter where you follow other authors and they follow you back (or like you in the case of Facebook).  Sounded good to me.

Next, I started a Facebook page.  Honestly, my blog seems much more useful to me than this.  I have some followers though, so I'll keep trying to figure out what to do with the Facebook page.  I would suggest this be the last thing you attempt, as I've found it to be the least useful.

After that, it was time to move on to Twitter.  Now, this was actually a bit fun for me, and I've been meeting some really interesting people.  In addition to that, I've connected with both readers and writers over the last few weeks (and even other people who watch Ghost Hunters!).

The real power comes when you combine your blog with Twitter in a newer media called triberr.  It is best if you don't join this web site on your own, but ask a friend who is in triberr to invite you into their tribe.  If you get invited, it is free.  If you join on your own, then to get into a specific tribe with people you know it causes what they call "inbreeding," and it costs money (bones) to get into the tribe of your choice.  Basically, we all share our blog feeds with triberr and with a simple click to approve posts, we share each other's blogs over our Twitter feeds.   This has really increased the number of viewers I get to my blog each day, increased my blog followers, and is helping to spread the word about information I'm sharing... hopefully it is all interesting enough to keep people coming back!

Just a cautionary tale... do not commit one of the Seven Sins of Social Networking as detailed by the vastly entertaining Rachelle Ayala on her blog Rachelle's Window.

Do you have any great networking tips I've overlooked?  Anything else I should be doing?

Thanks so much for reading!  Have a wonderful weekend!