The Gemstone Chronicles

I haven’t done an update on my book marketing tools, efforts, and new promotional finds. I have found a few new things and will be using one shortly, so I will be able to tell you how it worked out!

ebookdiscovery.com:

First, I want to talk about ebookdiscovery.com. I found the site on Twitter and checked it out. I think this will be a good resource for me! Here are some of the features:

• Read and Review Club: I submitted my book to this feature. And I was accepted! I provided an .epub version of The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian and ebookdiscovery will offer it to up to 50 of their readers. The readers can submit the  review to any of the major ebook retailers within a couple of weeks of the offering. My offering will be July 14, so I should start seeing reviews in early August. I will let everyone know how it goes.
• Current eBook Discovery Deals: Highlights free and bargain books
• Subscription: emails come to your inbox with the latest deals
• An ebook recommendation opportunity
• Opportunity to become an ebookdiscovery.com reviewer

Check out ebookdiscovery.com! It might be just the things for authors who are looking for reviews or for readers who want to become reviewers!

The Books Machine:

Another new site to visit and check out is The Books Machine. This is not a free site, but they advertise offering up your book to thousands of potential readers for a pretty low price. This is how it works:

• Register your book with the site and select your program
• The author decides who gets the free review copies
• The author must offer at least 5 copies per month, but if the author has multiple books, a combination of the books is acceptable
• The reader has to contact the author and give a reason why they would be a good reviewer
• Each reader has a star rating and the author gets to rate their reviewers
• The reviewer generally has 30 days to post their review
• The cost is $10/month, but there are discounts for longer term commitments

I haven’t tried The Books Machine, but I’m thinking it might be a nice way to pick up some reviews. After my ebookdiscovery.com run, I might give it a one month trial and see what happens!

That’s my latest update on the book marketing tools, efforts, and promotional opportunities I am currently working on for The Gemstone Chronicles. Except for one other thing I am contemplating. I think I might have a version of my bookmark turned into a magnet to attach to the tailgate of my truck and see what happens. I live in the Atlanta suburbs and my truck is seen by hundreds of drivers each day, so perhaps a reader will check it the books after seeing the information on the magnet. Here is the magnet:

What do you think?

Connect with me:

What new promotional and marketing opportunities have you found? What works for you? Leave me a comment and let me know. If you want to connect with me, I can be found on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads, or you email me at bill@williamlstuart.com!

One of the more interesting questions I get asked when someone discovers I have written 4 novels is where I got the inspirations or the ideas. For The Gemstone Chronicles, it’s a very easy answer, but for my latest WIP, the inspirations and the ideas came from an entirely different source. I will talk about them separately below.

I have been an avid reader for as long as I can remember, although I can’t remember the first book I read. Money earned from my paper route in Lakewood, Colorado bought every single Hardy Boy book available at the time (early to mid-70s). I bought Nancy Drew books, Alfred Hitchcock and the 3 Investigators, and a myriad of others. The Science Fiction Book Club got a lot of my money. I read Tolkien, Piers Anthony, Roger Zelazny, Isaac Asimov, Terry Brooks, Stephen Donaldson, Ursula K. LeGuin, and the list goes on and on.

Gemstones:

Why do I mention that? Well, as many of you know, I developed a fascination with gemstones after moving to North Georgia in 2007. While out hunting gemstones one summer afternoon, my grandson, Aidan, and I were discussing the “magical” and “mystical” properties of gems. Aidan, who loves playing World of Warcraft and similar games, told me I should write a book about gemstones, elves, and magic. Though I hadn’t aspired to be a writer, I agreed I would write a book. I knew a few things about world building from my reading of the authors mentioned above, I love to read fantasy, and I already had a plan on what to write. Thus, I had my ideas and my inspirations and the series was born! I even incorporated the gemstones on the covers of the books.

On the cover is the carnelian (first gem in the Elven Bow) along with the stones in the hilt of the Elven Sword, which include a sapphire, a garnet, and aquamarine, and a topaz. You can read all about the gemstones on the cover here.

It did take some time to research which gems would be integral to the story and which would have minor roles. I wanted to have gems with unique properties and I wanted the gems to tie to the personalities of the characters. This meant, of course, that I could draw inspirations and ideas from them. A win-win!

The Georgia Guidestones:

For my current WIP, I used to watch a program on History Channel called Brad Meltzer’s Decoded. One of the episodes was about the Georgia Guidestones. Lana, my lovely and adorable bride, and I visited the Guidestones one sunny afternoon. After the visit, I came away with new inspirations and ideas for my next book. The Guidestones are mysterious. and have a fascinating history behind them. The stones are the subject of conspiracy theories and have been almost since the day they were erected. They lend themselves very nicely to what I have in mind. The book will be unlike The Gemstone Chronicles. It is a thriller (or at least it is now…who knows how things will change during the writing process).

What inspires other writers?

This got me wondering what other writers use for inspirations and ideas? Do they get ideas from listening to the news? Do they have hobbies or interests that lead them down a certain literary path? Is it a current event? Something they witnessed or lived through? Ideas raised by other writers? All of the above? If you are a writer, please tell me what gave you the inspirations and ideas for your own works. I would love to hear about them!

Connect with me:

As always, I enjoy connecting with readers, writers, and anyone else who wants to leave me a comment. I can be found on Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook. Email me at bill@williamlstuart.com!

If you’ve read any of The Gemstone Chronicles, leave me a comment and let me know how you liked the books. If you want to let the world know what you thought, leave me a review on Amazon , Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, or Goodreads! I look forward to hearing from you!

On March 7, 2015, I attended the 4th Annual Augusta Literary Festival in Augusta, Georgia. We had a great time! We enjoyed our stay. Before I talk about the Festival, though, I want to talk about Augusta. Wikipedia says Augusta is the second oldest city in Georgia. Only Savannah is older. James Oglethorpe, founder of the British colony of Georgia, directed Augusta’s founding. Oglethorpe sent troops to build at the head of the navigable section of the Savannah River. He named to town Augusta (after the wife of the Frederick, Prince of Wales).

Other interesting facts about Augusta:

• Augusta was the capital of Georgia twice during the American Revolution
• Prior to the Civil War, Augusta was a leader in the production of textiles, gunpowder, and paper
• in 1845, the Southern Baptist Convention was founded in Augusta
• Augusta is the home of the Medical College of Georgia
• Georgia Pacific was founded in Augusta
• James Brown (the Godfather of Soul) grew up in Augusta in the 1930’s and 40’s
• The Savannah River Site is located near Augusta (and is the source for tritium for nuclear weapons)
• EZ – Go and Club Car (the world’s largest golf cart manufacturers) are located in Augusta
• The Masters Golf Tournament held annually at Augusta National Golf Club

Speaking the the Masters, I keep applying for Masters tickets in the ticket lottery. Despite my many attempts, I haven’t won any, but hope springs eternal! I apply each year in May and get the results in July. One day, I hope I’ll get the tickets!

There you have a quick list of facts about Augusta. Interesting place and one I am going to have to take some time to learn more about. However, now on to the Augusta Literary Festival and my experiences there!

Augusta Literary Festival:

We (the lovely and adorable Lana accompanied me – see the picture below), arrived Friday afternoon for the Festival. We attended the Author’s Reception at the Library. The highlight was the winner of the Yerby Award. Amanda Kyle Williams won for her book Don’t Talk to Strangers.

Saturday got the ball rolling. The event started at 10 am and there were visitors aplenty! Before it started, we got to interact with the other authors. I made a couple of new author friends! I decided to do a giveaway with each book purchased. For Book One: The Carnelian, we gave away carnelians. Book Two: The Amethyst buyers received amethysts. Not a bad bonus for buying a book!

I also participated as a panelist for a self publishing discussion. My fellow panelists were fantasy writer Alicia Michaels, and Hasheem Francis, bestselling author and businessman. We spoke about the self publishing process and our own lessons learned during our independent author journey. About 40 people attended our session. I hope we gave useful advice! Who knows, we might have spoken to a future Yerby Award winner!

By the end of the day, we met some really great people. I gained new author friends, too. And, we sold a few books! Overall, we had a wonderful experience. I’ll Look for my invitation to next year’s Augusta Literary Festival!

Did you attend the Augusta Literary Festival? What about book festivals in your area (if you don’t live in or near Augusta)? Do you enjoy interacting with the authors and finding new books? What is your favorite part of a festival? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Connect with me:

Connect with me! I’m on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads. Otherwise, just drop me a line at bill@williamlstuart.com! Stop by and say hi! If you’ve read any of The Gemstone Chronicles, thanks! If not, what are you waiting for? And please consider leaving a review. I love to know what you think of the books!

Book Marketing – Book Trailers!!! One of the hottest trends to help with book marketing these days are book trailers. Book trailers are a great tool for authors to use to generate book buzz, so I decided I would do some research and see if I could develop one for The Gemstone Chronicles Book One: The Carnelian. Before I show it, I wanted to go through the process that I used. Maybe it will help one of you readers with your own trailer!

Steps:

I started my trailer by developing slides in PowerPoint. You don’t have to do it that way. There are services that will create a trailer for you. Or, you can do it yourself. Step by step, it works something like this:

• Decide what you want to say about your book – write a script if you need to
• Find some images that fit what you want to say in your script
• Find music that fits the images and your book
• Make sure you give attribution for the images and music. Sometimes you have to pay for a license to use the images and the music, so do your research! I used www.incompetech.com for the music.
• Edit it all together and there you have it – a book trailer

I know this is a greatly simplified set of directions, but if you follow steps like this, you can make a trailer. You can Google it to find many helpful hints, examples, and step by step instructions. Once you’ve made the trailer draft, I recommend running it by friends, family, and other authors, and be prepared for some criticism (constructive, I hope). I ran my rough draft by a whole group of people (that fit the recommendations listed above) and got a ton of feedback. As a result, I reduced the length, changed the font, and made a few other changes. It made the end result much better, I think!

Formats:

Making the trailer wasn’t all that difficult. It can be a slide show or it can be converted into a .mp4 or .wmv (or other formats, depending on what devices you want to be able to view it). I converted mine to .mp4 so viewers can see it on most devices. The conversion from PowerPoint slides to the .mp4 was easy, too! Just save the file as .mp4 and PowerPoint converts it. Works the same way to save the file as a .wmv, so easy as can be!

Where to post the trailer?

Now that the trailer is made, what do you do with it? I will post mine on my website, include it on MyBookTable, put it on my Facebook fan page, and I might even start my own YouTube channel. I will be at the Augusta Literary Festival March 7 and I can run it at my table during the day. As a part of my overall marketing plan, I intend to use it extensively to generate interest in the book and I will be working on trailers for the other books of the series!

Finally, here is the trailer! Take a look and let me know what you think!!

Have you done a book trailer or had one created for your books? I would love to see them, so post a link in the comments. Who knows, I might end up buying books based on the trailers!

Connect with me:

If you want to connect with me, I can be found on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads, or you can contact me through email at bill@williamlstuart.com.

I know everyone is probably getting tired of seeing my posts about book marketing, so I think I will wrap up the series with Book Marketing Part 4 – I can see clearly now! This one will deal with more of the sites I have discovered and have either tried or want to try. Hopefully, these will help you with your own book marketing efforts!

AUTHORSdB:

AuthorsdB is a great site that is free for authors to join. I’m listed there, but I have to admit I need to explore the offerings the site offers. I know that there are reviewers, author services, and some marketing help at AuthorsdB. You can grab a widget, enter your cover in a cover contest, and a lot of other things. Check it out and see what they can do for you!

IndieReader:

IndieReader.com is another site I have visited and am interested in trying out some of their services. They offer everything from reviews to news articles about the Indie book world. The reviews, though, are not free. They will do a review for $225 (with a turnaround time of 5-9 weeks) or a rush review for an additional $75 (with a turnaround time of 4-6 weeks). If your book is reviewed and receives a 4 or 5 star rating, IndieReader will include your book in their curation service that makes recommendations to Scribd, Bibliolabs, Huffington Post, and USA Today.

There are many other services available on IndieReader, so I’m planning on doing more investigation and see what opportunities are there!

theindietribe.com:

Theindietribe.com is a cool site that offers a lot to authors. From proofreading, review exchange (you do have to buy the books to review), writing tips, and many others, it is a one-stop shop for many authors. As with IndieReader, I will have investigate all of the offerings and opportunities at theindietribe! Look for a follow up report in the future.

The Readers Gazette World:

The Readers Gazette World is something new to me. I recently started following them on Twitter and have been impressed by the amount of activity I see there. I haven’t signed up on their website yet, but I will check it out in the next few days. You have to use Facebook to access most of the features of the site, but they offer quizzes, games, blogs, and short stories, as well as promotional opportunities.

Self-Publishing Review:

Another site worth looking at is Self-Publishing Review. They offer book reviews for a price, but the prices range from $59-$249 and the turnaround time is 2-4 weeks. The lowest price option doesn’t include a star rating, so if you want that option, you have to pick one of the other options. SPR also offers editorial services, a book launch service, and SPR Awards, so give them a look.

Readers Favorite:

Readers Favorite is a great site that offers reviews and awards for deserving books. I submitted my first book for a free review and it took a while before it was picked up by a reviewer, but picked up it was. I can’t wait to hear back for my reviewer. Readers Favorite only posts 4 and 5 star reviews, but if the review doesn’t meet that standard, the author is contacted with constructive criticism.

However, if your book earns a 4 or 5 star review, they do a great job of getting the word out. If you happen to receive a 5 star review, then you get an award that you can place on the book and everyone can see it is an award-winning book. They also sponsor the Readers Favorite Book Awards that can get more publicity for your book. It costs $89 to enter in one category. Add your book to multiple categories for an additional fee. I may enter my book!

Check out Readers Favorite and see if it’s a fit for you. I know it’s something I will use!

Bublish:

Another site that I’m taking a close look at is Bublish. Bublish allows the author to upload an .epub of their book(s) and publish excerpt bubbles along with background from the author. A basic membership is free, but for $9.99/month (or $99/year), there are some extras. I like the concept and read a couple of bubbles from authors on the site. The bubbles were great and the background from the author helped put them in context. Bublish runs a lot of Twitter promos for the bubbles, so here is a great opportunity to get exposure for not a lot of money. I’ll be setting up my Bublish account in the very near future and will provide an update on how it goes.

Book marketing Part 4 wrap up:

That’s it for now. I hope I have been able to provide some new sites and promotional and marketing opportunities for Indie authors (and even traditionally published authors who are working on promoting your books). I know working on this series of posts has helped me define what my marketing focus will be in 2015. I’ll be putting my marketing plan together using some of the information I gleaned from my research, and I’ll let you know how it goes. Book Marketing Part 4, as well as the other posts in the series, hopefully added a few more tools to your toolbox!

Connect with me:

If any of these ideas from this post (or the previous 3 posts) have helped your marketing efforts, please leave me a comment and let me know. If you want to connect with me, I can be found at Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads, and you can always contact me at bill@williamlstuart.com.

You can find The Gemstone Chronicles on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes&Noble, and many other outlets. If you read one (or all of them), please consider leaving a review. I would love to know what y’all think!

I haven’t done an update to my experiences as an Indie Author in quite some time, so I thought now would be a great time to do one. What exactly is an Indie Author? There are a number of definitions of Indie Author, but this one is my favorite from the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi).

What is an Indie Author?

So what marks out an indie from other authors? The Alliance allows that you are an independent author if you:

• Have self-published at least one book.
• Recognise that ‘indie’ does not necessarily mean ‘self-publishing only’ and acknowledge that even the most indie-spirited self-publisher works in collaboration with other publishing professionals (editors, designers, distributors) to produce a good book and reach readers. You are open to mutual beneficial partnerships, including trade publishing deals where appropriate for you, so long as the author’s status as creative director of the book is acknowledged.
• Expect your status in the partnership to be reflected in contracts and terms, not just lip service.
• Recognise that you are central to a revolutionary shift in publishing which is moving from seeing the author as resource (in the new parlance ‘content provider’) to respecting the author as creative director.
• Are proud of your indie status, which you carry into all your ventures, negotiations and collaborations for your own benefit and to the benefit of all writers.

You can find the entire article about the definition here!

What have I learned?

What have I learned in the two-plus years of being an indie author? I’ve learned that writing The Gemstone Chronicles was the easiest part of the process. It’s a great feeling to get the words down on the page, finishing the story, and heaving a huge sigh of satisfaction. Below is the cover of Book One: The Carnelian, my first book!

Then the work began! The initial step is the editing and rewrites. After reading through the manuscript and correcting all the typos, grammar mistakes, misspelled words, and other errors that you can find, you send the manuscript off to your editor for honest (and sometimes painful) critique. It helps to have thick skin.

Editing

After going through the manuscript on your own, it’s time to get the manuscript professionally edited. I don’t think I can stress that enough. I was lucky in that I have a wonderful friend who did my editing and made such a huge difference in the finished product. I’ve seen some books (both Indie and traditionally published) that had grammar and spelling issues. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read snuck in the narrative. I understand you can use it as part of a character’s dialogue, but not in the narrative. Complected is another one of my pet grammar peeves, as in she was dark-complected. The term is complexioned, but I digress. My point is that a good editor will find things like the examples and point them out. I know that my editor used a red pen freely (and deservedly so) on my manuscripts!

Proofing

Once the editor goes through the manuscript and corrections made, I have seen a couple of different techniques for a final proof of the manuscript. I personally like reading it through a couple of times. One of the most creative proofing ideas is to read the book aloud to see if it makes sense. I may try that technique in the future. I don’t think either method is better than the other and I’m certain there are hundreds more options, but it is a necessary step. Even the best editors can miss something or, if you are like me, typos can happen during the correction process.

Formatting

Now, the manuscript is complete and its time to format it for ebooks, printing, or both. Of course, this assumes that the cover is complete, but if that isn’t done yet, I would once again recommend getting some professional help, but that is up to the you, the author. There are so many resources out there that are affordable options, but this in one area where the author can spend as much as he or she wants. Whatever route the author chooses, just make sure that the cover is done well.

Formatting services also abound on the web. However, at least for ebooks, there are great formatting guides available from Kindle and Smashwords. I like to format the manuscript for Smashwords first, simply because it is more comprehensive than Kindle. Once I have completed the Smashwords formatting, the Kindle formatting is easier for me.

For the print version of the book, I learned much from trial and error. I use Createspace to publish my print books. Word to the wise. Study other books of the same genre! Pay close attention to the page color (cream vs. white), fonts, the front matter, copyright page, and all those little details that make the print book look professional and appealing to the readers. It will save you a lot of time and frustration!

Marketing

I’m not going to spend a lot of time in this post on marketing. It deserves a post of its own and I’ll do one soon! Suffice it to say that marketing the book(s) has proven to be the biggest challenge of all.

Social Media

Most of us use social media of some sort. I’m on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, my blog, Goodreads, and LinkedIn. I recently signed up for Ello (though I haven’t used it much yet). I’ve joined groups on Facebook and Goodreads and interact in them. I think the groups are the greatest! They give me the opportunity to ask stupid questions, find new strategies, and foster relationships with other writers (both indie authors and traditionally published). I get to learn more about the writing process and business. Good stuff that I recommend all writers try!

So, that’s my update on what I have learned in the past couple of years as an indie author! I’ve enjoyed the journey thus far, and I’ve just started writing my fifth book (and the first that isn’t part of The Gemstone Chronicles). It has been an amazing experience and I have met some awesome people. The biggest thing I have learned is that there are tons of people willing to help. All you have to do is ask!

Are you thinking about writing? Have you written something but don’t know what to do next? Torn between sending out query letters and trying to find an agent and a traditional publisher or becoming an indie author and self-publishing? Leave me a comment and let me know! I would be happy to try to steer you toward some help if I can. I know there are folks that helped me and I would be willing to bet they would help you, too!