The Gemstone Chronicles

I haven’t done an update on The Gemstone Chronicles in a while, but I have news!

The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian:

My first book celebrated its eighth birthday in August. Hard to believe it has been that long since it was published. Along the way, it garnered an Indie BRAG medallion and a Readers’ Favorite Bronze Medal. Though it has yet to reach bestseller status, it has knocked on the door a number of times, so you never know!

The Carnelian is listed on www.YABooksCentral.com (along with the rest of the series) and has been viewed over 14,000 times! Not bad, in my opinion (though I may be a little biased about the book). Lastly, it has 92 ratings and reviews on Amazon with 4.4 Stars on average!

The Gemstone Chronicles Book Two: The Amethyst:

The second book of the series also received an Indie BRAG medallion in 2020! Proud moment for me to have two books listed on www.bragmedallion.com!

I entered The Amethyst in the 2020 Readers’ Favorite contest and received Finalist recognition. No medal for this one, but still quite an honor!

The book has over 5,000 views on YA Books Central and 26 ratings and reviews on Amazon with 4.6 Stars on average

The Gemstone Chronicles Book 3: The Emerald:

I haven’t submitted The Emerald for any contests, but I think I will the next time Indie Brag opens for submissions and may submit to Readers’ Favorite in 2021. Stay tuned for the results!

As I mentioned above, the book is listed on YA Books Central and has over 4600 views. Amazon has 12 ratings and reviews with 4.8 stars on average.

The Gemstone Chronicles Book Four: The Ruby:

Like The Emerald, I have submitted the final book of the series for any contests. I plan to submit to both Indie Brag and Readers’ Favorite, so we’ll see what happens.

On YA Books Central, The Ruby needs a couple hundred more views to reach HOT status like the rest of the books, but it still has over 3,000 views. If you happen to be on the website, give it a look! Ratings and reviews wise, the book has 7, but all are 5 Star! If you’ve read it, reviews would be greatly appreciated!

There you have my update on the books. I’m working (slowly) on a new book, but that’s a topic for another post! Stay tuned for updates.

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My readers recall that The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian won its first award from IndieBrag when it received the B.R.A.G. medallion in 2015. This past October, I submitted Book Two: The Amethyst and guess what? It won as well, so it’s time to B.R.A.G (again)! I could not be prouder!

What is IndieBRAG?

As a refresher, IndieBRAG, home of award-winning independent authors, awards the B.R.A.G. medallion. B.R.A.G. stands for Book Readers Appreciation Group and has as its mission is to discover talented independent authors and give their work the attention and recognition they deserve. According to their website, all books brought to their attention are subjected to a rigorous selection process. They screen the works to ensure they meet minimum standards for quality and content. If the book passes the screening process, IndieBRAG makes the book available to a global group of readers, who can select the book based on the genre.

B.R.A.G. Medallion:

IndieBRAG only awards 20-25% of the submissions a B.R.A.G. medallion, indicating the book is well-worth readers’ time and money. Now I have two! I plan to submit Books Three and Four at some point in the future and hope to have the entire series listed on the website just as The Carnelian and The Amethyst are!

In the market for good independently published books? Visit the IndieBRAG website and see what interests you. I’m reading a fellow B.R.A.G. medallion author’s book now and they are excellent! I’ll bet you can find your favorite genre there, too. As always, if you read a book, please consider leaving a review! It doesn’t take long. Your feedback is appreciated and welcomed by the authors.

Connect with me:

Find me on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and Pinterest. Visit my Amazon Author page or find me on the IndieBRAG site. Stop by, check out The Gemstone Chronicles, and say hello!

A Thank You Card and learning about adapting to change, persistence, and perseverance. Lessons from a reader and two bestselling authors!

Sometimes being an independent author is difficult. Not the writing part (although that is quite challenging in its own right), but the other aspects of the business of writing. Not only does an indie author have to write, but they also are the first editor, primary marketer, sales person, and just about every other role all rolled into one. I’m not complaining, mind you, just stating the facts.

In my social media feeds, I often hear writers express the frustration of not knowing whom, if anyone reads their work. If someone does read it (as evidenced by book sales), the hope is that a review materializes. More often than not, it doesn’t and the author is left wondering what readers think of their work.

I’ve experienced the same issues. Luckily, I don’t write to make a living. As most of my longtime readers know, I wrote The Gemstone Chronicles for my grandchildren, not to become the next bestselling author (though if lots of people want to buy the books and make that happen, I’ll happily accept it).

Jingle in the Park and Nate

Where is all this leading? Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had a couple of things happen to reaffirm that writing my books allows me to reach readers and how adapting to change, persistence, and patience are necessary. A little background, first. In December 2019, I participated in Jingle in the Park in Suwanee, Georgia. Jingle in the Park is an event for the HappyFeat organization. Here is the link to learn all about Happyfeat and its wonderful programs for special needs individuals. Despite the cold December day, I set up my booth (fought the wind a little bit), sold books, and generally had a great time!

One of the visitors to my booth was a young man named Nate. Nate wandered over to my table and we struck up a conversation. Rocks interest Nate, and, since my books involve gemstones, I had a few of my collection on display. Long story short, Nate ended up purchasing Book One: The Carnelian and, as part of his purchase, received a carnelian to take home with him.

Imagine my surprise when early January 2020, I received an email from Nate’s mother asking how she could order an autographed copy of Book Two: The Amethyst. We worked it out and I sent the book, along with a few additional stones for Nate’s collection (after all, who wouldn’t want an amethyst for happiness and a bloodstone for healing?).

Where is the affirmation, you are probably asking. Well, around the middle of January, I received a thank you card from Nate. Handwritten and with a hand drawn picture of The Carnelian cover in the card, it absolutely made my day! It isn’t often (at least for me) that an author gets confirmation that they’ve reached a reader. Thank you Nate!

Atlanta Writers Club

The second part happened as part of the monthly meeting at the Atlanta Writers Club. I attended the January 18, 2020 meeting and enjoyed listening to Lynn Cullen and Joshilyn Jackson talk about their books and experiences as authors. Lynn had great insights to adapting to change and one comment from Joshilyn Jackson caught my attention. She recently submitted a YA novel and received numerous rejection letters. Not that I’m happy about her rejection letters (and I hope she won’t be mad I mentioned it), but it just shows that even bestselling authors have a tough time of it. They stick it out and I have to as well.

I’ll continue with my three works in progress and see where they lead and I encourage all my writer friends to do the same. Regardless of where my works in progress lead me, I’m grateful for Nate’s awesome thank you card and to Lynn Cullen and Joshilyn Jackson for demonstrating that perseverance, patience, and adapting to change pay off!

Connect with me:

Find me on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and Pinterest! If you do, say hi and let’s connect!

Milestones!

Milestone the first:

Today’s post marks a number of milestones! What milestones, you might ask? The first significant milestone is that August 12 marks seven years since The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian publication date! Since that day,  The Carnelian picked up an Indie BRAG Medallion and a Readers’ Favorite Bronze Medal. I’ve published the other three books of the series, attended many festivals and books signings, spoke at schools, and learned more than I ever thought possible about writing. I’ve met amazing authors, reviewers, and book promoters. I keep writing (can you believe three WIPs?) and hope to publish my fifth book (the start of a new series) in 2020.

Though I haven’t hit the bestsellers list yet, I am eternally grateful to each and every person who took the time to read one or all of the books. My favorite author moment came from a teacher (and former classmate). She told me she struggled to get a student to read. When she told the student she knew an author (me), and maybe he would read my books. I sent her a set. She reported back to me that he loved them and has become a voracious reader! That makes it all worthwhile!

Milestone the second:

I also celebrate reaching the 15,000 Twitter follower milestone! Writing The Gemstone Chronicles made me aware of the various avenues of social media and, after trying most of them, settled on Twitter as my main social media platform. I know it isn’t a huge following, but I continue to grow it and I hope I’m providing some assistance to other authors out there.

Milestone the third:

The final milestone I’m marking is that this post is my three hundredth blog post! That’s right! This blog started on August 12th, 2012 to announce The Carnelian’s publication. What a long but interesting journey it has been! I’ve written posts about my books, book promotion sites, gemstones, duct tape, conspiracy theories, and many book reviews! I’ve even slipped a few posts about submarines and my time in the Navy. I like to post my book reviews and maybe give a fellow author a bit of exposure. I hope my posts reflect my rather eclectic interests both in the different genres I review and the occasional foray into my hobbies and interests.

As always, I’m humbled and grateful for everyone’s continued support and for the readers who’ve taken time to read my books and read and comment on my blog posts. Though I can’t thank all of you personally, please know how much I appreciate you and will try to continue to provide enjoyable content!

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Amelia Island Book Festival!

Amelia Island, Florida is a charming town just north of Jacksonville, FL and just south of the Georgia-Florida line. Why am I telling you this? Well, every year in February, the island hosts the Amelia Island Book Festival! This year’s festivities begin on February 15. They end with the Author Expo/Readers Extravaganza event on February 17. For more information of the festival, click on this link! I’ll be there with the Gemstone Chronicles series. I’ll sign books, meet lots of new friends, discover new authors, and connect with readers!

Events at the Amelia Island Book Festival:

2018 is the 17th Annual celebration. This year’s theme is An Amelia Island Encounter – Romance, Action, and Mystery. I’ll highlight a few of the events, starting with Thursday, February 15. The Kickoff Luncheon starts the Festival on the day after Valentine’s Day. New York Times bestselling author Adriana Trigiani gives the keynote address! Author David Baldacci introduces Adriana.

Friday, February 16 has three great events. First, bestselling author Steve Berry and his wife and business partner Elizabeth conduct a Writer’s Workshop. The workshop focuses on  both the writing craft and the business of writing.

While the Berrys hold their workshop, many authors will visit the 16 area public schools and Volunteer Pre-Ks. They will present to and interact with the students. This outreach program, called Authors In Schools, promotes lifelong learning and literacy!

Friday evening is the Author Face Off Gala Dinner. Jennifer Armentrout, Lee Child, Karen Slaughter, and Sherri Rinker face-off. The event, hosted by Steve Berry, includes a silent auction and much more. Make your plans to go!

Author Expo/Readers Extravaganza:

Saturday brings the Author Expo/Readers Extravaganza. Fernandina Beach Middle School hosts the event. It allows readers and authors to get to know each other and includes book signings and breakout sessions. Famed chef Jacques Pepin will be on hand to sign his cookbooks. Steve Berry, Sherri Rinker, Jennifer Armentrout, Karin Slaughter, and Lee Child all hold breakout sessions. With nearly 100 noted authors, games, arts and crafts, and food trucks, this will be a day to enjoy! I’m looking forward to the festivities!

Are you going? I’ll be in space 105, so stop by! Say hello, grab a book or 4, and pick up a gemstone! I look forward to meeting each of you. If you buy a book (mine or someone else’s) please consider leaving a review. Reviews help authors become better writers. Simple reviews are fine. Just a few words stating how you liked the book is great!

Connect with me:

Want to let me know you’ll be there? Email me at bill@williamlstuart.com or leave me a comment. Find me at the following: Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and Pinterest. Contact me and let me know if you’re going!

I wanted to provide a book marketing update on some new sites (at least new to me) that I discovered and how things are going on the marketing front. I hope some of this will be helpful to you, too!

YA Books Central:

The first new site I want to talk about is YA Books Central. I found the site through a tweet that showed up in my feed. Since The Gemstone Chronicles is written for middle grade/YA and up, I decided to check it out to see if I could reach more of my target audience (not that I mind getting reviews from adults). I was impressed by what I found. Here are some interesting things I found out about the site:

• The site has a ton of books and it has a separate place for Indie books. It makes it easier to find works by Indie authors
• @yabookscentral has over 33K followers on Twitter
• The site does offer reviews for traditionally published authors, and may review Indie books on occasion
• YABC on Facebook has over 14,000 likes
• Once you submit your book and it is approved (it cost me $3.99 to list my book), it is listed on the site with a cover photo and a link for sales. In the 3 days (as of April 3) since I posted my book, I have had over 50 views of the book.
• They also have a separate page for Kid’s books

Marketing Update! All four of The Gemstone Chronicles are now on YABC! In fact, Book One: The Carnelian is HOT on the site.

If you are a YA or Kids author, this might be a great place to list your book! To give you an idea of what the site looks like, here is a link to my book: http://www.yabookscentral.com/yaindie/17879-the-carnelian-the-gemstone-chronicles-series-1

Indie Brag:

IndieBRAG: I found this site after seeing a fellow author’s BRAG medallion. BRAG stands for Book Readers Appreciation Group and they will award a BRAG Medallion for books that have passed the rigorous standards for their reviews. Here are some facts about IndieBRAG:

• IndieBRAG is not a free site to submit a book. It costs $20 for a book to be considered for a review. Since I made a little money from the Augusta Literary Festival, I decided I would submit. We will see what happens!
• IndieBRAG has over 9400 Facebook Likes
• IndieBRAG has over 5300 Twitter followers

Update! I did submit my book to the site and guess what – The Carnelian was awarded a BRAG Medallion!

The last new place I want to tell you about is Cold Coffee Cafe. I stumbled across this site on Twitter. It’s a free site for authors to join and list their books and trailers. I signed up and haven’t finished setting everything up yet, but I do have The Carnelian listed and its trailer is linked there, too. More information on Cold Coffee Cafe:

• Just over 600 Twitter followers
• Just over 650 likes on Facebook
• Offers promotional packages

My page link at Cold Coffee Cafe is: http://coldcoffeecafe.com/profile/WilliamlStuart

As far as my marketing efforts are concerned, things have picked up since I have been implementing my own marketing plan. I continue to refine my strategy and, once I stumble on the key(s) to successful (and low-cost) book marketing strategies, I will share!

In conclusion, here is my Book Marketing update! I don’t know how well any of these might work within your advertising and promotional budget and strategy, but give them a look!

Connect with me:

If you want to connect with me, I can be found on Twitter, Facebook, or send me an email at bill@williamlstuart.com. Feel free to connect!!