Blog

Did you know that authors are counting on their readers to leave reviews on Amazon and Goodreads? It is so important to independent authors because it lets us know what you think of our writing and how we can improve. Yes, it hurts to get a bad review, but every review counts.

Did you also know that only customers who have spent at least $50 on Amazon in the last 12 months can submit ratings and reviews? So even if you submit a review, it may not show up. Amazon is sneaky like that. It's also...

I was recently on a podcast hosted by a member of the Florida Writers Foundation. I haven't done a podcast in ages and wasn't sure how it would work out.

I spoke on marketing, which I love. It tied it in with the talk I gave to the Space Coast Writers Guild in March. My book The Author's Platform: What is it and why you need it, has been revised because of all the changes. It's amazing how fast social media evolves these days.

Some of you know how I love in-person events. I keep telling authors...

I'm back home after my trip across Florida from Bradenton to Melbourne. The Space Coast Writers Guild is a great group, very welcoming. After my presentation, they asked questions which I happly answered. I did go off-script and ad-lib, but I had a great time, and they enjoyed my talk. My computer died towards the end of the presentation, which was probably a good thing. I got to be myself.

It's a four-hour journey each way, which I'm not happy with. My husband drove, and we stayed overnight...

A lot of authors are introverts. They love writing but hate trying to sell the darn thing. Authors moan about no one buying the wonderful book they have written. It's not the book's fault. The author has to get out the door and meet their readers. I have a small 60-page book on how to try to find those readers.

I love getting out the door and finding that arts-and-crafts events are a great place to sell my books. While I'm out, I meet and engage with readers who have book clubs where I can be...

Hi!

I’m excited to announce that all of my books will be available as part of the Smashwords 2025 End of Year Sale! This is a chance to get my book, along with books from many other great authors, at a promotional discount.

You can find the promo here: http://smashwords.com/sale

If you wouldn’t mind lending a hand to the other indie authors taking part in this sale and me, you can share this promo with your friends and family. Just forward this email to anyone who would love a chance to find...

Sixteen years ago, I wrote and published my first book. It was a children's book called Just Batty. I was so proud to hold that book in my hands. The illustrations were dreadful, and it had some spelling and grammar errors, but I was selling it.

I was also learning my craft. I found a new illustrator, Jackie Gill, who is terrific and would continue to be my illustrator for several more books. I republished minus the errors. But things had begun to change. Technology was changing, and children...

It's a common complaint I hear from authors all the time. "my book is not selling but it's a great book."

I have to ask what are you doing to help sell your book? Are you just sitting there and hoping someone will stumble upon your listing on Amazon and find your book interesting enough to purchase? That is not how it works. I've said this a million times.

After you publish the hard work begins. I don't care if you are traditionally published or and Independent author you still have to put in...

Most every day I get an email or message on my Facebook page that begins with "how are you doing today?" or "I saw you book today" and the person wants to know what my inspiration was or for me to tell them about me book. I bit into it at first. I was over joyed that someone was interested enough and wanted to know more about me and my books. Along the way I learned that it was all a scam to get me to buy into what ever they were selling.

I'm a poor struggling author with hardly a penny to my...

I was at an event yesterday where I didn't expect to sell much of anything. It was at a senior living center in Osprey Florida. these places are notorious in the authors circles for not buying books. The organizer had a select few vendors, jewelry, gifts, cards, and books set up in the lobby. I did surprisingly well. I'll do this event again if asked.

I've also been doing a lot of social media marketing and it's paying off. I spend about an hour or more on my Facebook authors page, LinkedIn,...

I'm trying something new this month. Zeely.com is an interesting marketing platform that I'm playing with. It's for any type of product or service that you can think of and that a person wants to promote.

As an author I'm creating static ads using their templates and AI goes to work and makes up the ad. I used my Florida Wildlife Heroes Series first. Zeely helped me make a campaign to promote all four books in the series. I was pleasantly surprised with how well it did. Before I sold maybe one...

I'm always looking for ways to get my books out there to readers. I had my eBooks with Draft2Digital. They recently offered Digital Voice audiobooks for free. Yeah!! I love Free. I had to do it. I already had some of my books with Findaway voices and paid a narrator/producer.

Then Findaway merged with spotifi and now they are INaudio. My poor brain. I had just created several books created with digital voices through D2D. Some of them have made it to IN audio but some have not. I'm...

Did you know that Audio books are being created using AI now? I've created several audio books using AI through Draft2Digital. That's where I publish my eBooks. D2D uses the Apple platform to distribute audio books. I've been very happy with them so far.

Today I found out that Kindle Direct Publishing (Amazon) also uses AI to create audio books with their Audible platform.

For years authors wanting an audio book had to pay a narrator/producer or try an do it on their own, which I would not...

New authors some times try to make things more difficult than they have to be. Things are constantly changing. Companies are taking over other companies. You have to keep up or get lost.

Recently I spoke with an author that had been out of the loop for a while and trying to publish a book and eBook to multiple platforms that was not necessary.

In my opinion you only need one platform for a print book, either Kindle Direct Publishing ( part of Amazon) or Ingram Spark. Amazon is a retailer with...

I never used a Smashwords coupon before until this past Easter Weekend. I didn't think anyone was actually using them. Boy was I wrong. I made a coupon for The Alligator Dance and each of the books in the Green Lady Inn Mystery Series. I was shocked by the downloads they received.

I posted about the coupon on my Facebook author page, Instagram, and the Smashwords page. I'll try another eBook next month and keep the rotation going.

Most of also are connected to Smashwords. I'll be sure to make a...

I wrote a little sarcastic post on my personal Facebook page the other day when I was feeling used and abused. It was after i came home from the eye doctor and he pronounce that i might have the beginnings of glaucoma, wonderful.

Today I went to a luncheon sponsored by the National League of American Pen Women-Sarasota Branch of which I am a member. I was surprised at how many of those members came up to me and commented on that post and asked how I was doing.

Usually I only vent to my...

It's a challenge either way. It's hard finding the time to write when your head is spinning with the normal running of a household. I'm a one man band. I do 99 percent of the shopping, all of the cooking and most of the washing up. My husband works a midnight shift so he sleeps most of the day and unfortunately is pretty useless during the day. There are not enough hours in my day.

I also home school my grandson which I love to do. He's in the 9th grade and doing extremely well. We do butt...

I went to an event at the Venice Gardens Community Center on Shamrock Blvd. yesterday Feb 1. Foot traffic was very light and even not many vendors were there. It's pretty early in this half of the season.

I did pretty well because of repeat customers coming in looking for the next book. Readers like to get to know the author and will stop and chat. It make me so happy when I hear personally how much they liked a book and want to purchase another one.

One comment I hear over and over is the...

One way to get sales of old titles moving again is to revise the covers. I revised the covers of my Green Lady Inn mystery series. It's a five book series set in Salem Massachusetts. I had my designer do this and it took several tries before we got it right. I'm very pleased with the results.

https://amzn.to/3W89z2C

I also updated the cover to Honey Tree Farm. for this one I used Canva. I'd never used this platform before so it took a couple tries before I got it right.

https://amzn.to/34O6Z73

...

Happy Thanksgiving

It was the end of November, and the evening held the warmth of the last days of Indian Summer, with only a slight nip of fall in the air. The smell of burning leaves graced the night air. I sat in the shadows of my front porch, rocking and listening to the night sounds. My old gray sweater wrapped tight around me to keep out the chill. These old bones didn’t take to the cold anymore.
The rocker beside me was empty. I wanted someone to share this incredible evening. Fall was...

I received an email asked for marketing advice from an author the other day. He was doing all the right things on social media, and he has a couple good books.

He has done paid advertising on Amazon and other platforms with lukewarm results. Personally, I do not do paid advertising. I always end up losing money. This author used to go out to events and book clubs talks but has not been out in a while.

I tell all my authors you have to get your butts out the door and make yourself visible to...