Surviving the Holidays

It has been a relatively short journey for me to get "Surviving t he Holidays - Taking Charge of Your Life" out there. For those that have been following this blog, you will know that my initial choice was to publish on Smashwords. I wanted to have my book out there, in multiple formats, with maximum availability. I still feel that Smashwords is a viable option, that they are well set up, and not that difficult a maze to make it through. My problem was that I am not good at formatting. Note: Mark Coker's instructions are excellent ... it was me that could not implement them. That, and I never was ab le to get a copy of "Mark's List", the list of Smashwords author's that will format for a reasonable fee. I did have a friend offer to format for me, but I had to look at the fact that she is incredibly busy with her own work, and I want this book to be the beginning of a series.

So ... I made the decision to take my work off of Smashwords, and put it up on Kindle, through their KDP program (a program that I swore never to use!). Largely because I already had a well formatted file, I was able to get my work up within twelve hours. Now I can make use of the KDP info that my sister headed me over to, and start promoting! For me,  this is a wonderful way to end the old year, and start out the new year. Hopefully in early January I will have my next book up - one on body/mind/spirit balance, and following one's life path with authority.

I do have two blogs that I would like to share this week - Spunk One A Stick's "People Skills For Writer's" (a heads up on her next book), and Monica Crowe's "Four Marketing Tips For The New Year".

Find out more about "Surviving the Holidays - Taking Charge of Your Life". If you like what you see, please "like" my book!

(c) December 2012 Bonnie Cehovet

A Writer's Life

 

Writing is certainly an interesting occupation! My first two books were compilations - one was for my Tarot deck and book reviews, another was for my Tarot interviews. Then I did an e-book on women in Tarot. These were all independent endeavors, through Lulu and Create Space. Then I approached Schiffer Publishing with an idea for a book ... and it was accepted! That was an amazing process ... one that I would have never made it through without the extreme patience of my editor, Dinah Roseberry! Then I decided to present a second idea to Schiffer Publishing, and that was accepted! I was totally elated both times ... I never expected either book to get off the ground with a brick and mortar publisher. Having gone through the process once,  this second time is a lot easier.

This am I got an e-mail from the marketing department at Schiffer, detailing the marketing process (my next book will be out in spring/summer of 2013). I am still in awe of the fact that  this is my work out there! This e-mail really made my day!

Then there is the ongoing process with my e-book on Smashwords. Still having formatting issues, although now we are down to the files that are related tot he table of contents. Also, I have still not been able to get hold of "Mark's List" - the Smashword's author's that offer formatting for a fee. Giving up on this one! I will be giving this one more go this coming Saturday ... if that fails, I have a friend who has offered to format for me, for a fee. I am amazed at the offer, as she is very busy both creating and promoting her own work. One way or another, my book is getting out on Smashwords! LOL Very determined Cappie here. It is a holiday based e-book (on surviving the holidays), so it is really too late for this year, but it is part of a series, so I will find some way to get a few sales.

I still have a mystery WIP, which seems to be taking a back seat right now. It will find its proper time! Then a friend and I are in the visioning stage of getting a self-empowerment book out there. We don't know how it will be published yet, but we are excited about it! And no, I am not going to talk about the focus just yet! 

Sometime in January or early February I should have an e-book up on Kindle. Maybe even through the KDP program, although I am not too sure about that yet! This one is also a self-help book - a kick starter for the new year!

I ran across an article this am that I would like to share. It presents a three step process for doing keyword research (a huge part of getting our work to the attention of targeted readers). You can read it here - A 3-Step Process For Painless Keyword Research. 

Off to do one of my favorite things - write my music blog for the week!

(c) December 2012 Bonnie Cehovet

Regrouping!

After several semi-successful tries, I have decided in the name of sanity to have my e-book for Smashwords formatted for me. It will cost a bit, yes (not too much), but it will free up my time. The "Smashwords Style Guide", by Mark Coker, is an excellent book. Very well written, and easy to follow ... but I am not a techie! So it will take me a bit longer to get my book out there - but it will be formatted as it should be, for all of the Smashwords venues. Well worth the wait.

Interesting little jabs going on between Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com - something to keep abreast of for Indie authors! Barnes & Noble vrs Amazon.com

Then there is the Indie revolution - Indie Revolution 

And a bit on Wordpress - The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Wordpress Publishers

Still working on my site - creating a landing page that will give site visitors  the option of jumping to my Tarot work or my writing, and creating a sales page for my e-book series. I also need to revamp my bio away from Tarot and towards writing. That will be a work in progress until I have a few non-Tarot books out there. 

Next week I will be looking at holiday gifts for the writer in your world ... or for you! In January I will be looking at setting goals for the new year, and at writing seminars and workshops, as well as the pros and cons of joining a writer's organization. 

Small steps take us continually forward to where we want to go!

(c) December 2012 Bonnie Cehovet

Almost There!

I am almost there with my first self-help eBook. It is written, and edited. The first in a series of self-help books, this one is on maintaining ones sanity during the holidays. Once I had the format down on how I wanted to present the information, the writing went quickly.

Many thanks to Canadian artist Pamela Steele, who created the cover for me. A task way beyond my abilities, she did a fantastic job! The imagery accurately reflects the intention of this small (17,040 word) book – that we maintain control of our lives during the craziest time of the year, when demands far exceed our time and other resources.

I have the short blurb (a description for the back of the book) and the long blurb (for the sales page) ready to go. Tomorrow I will be formatting the book and the blurbs, and getting them up on Smashwords. Then I will need to create a separate page on my site to promote it. At the same time, I think I will separate my Tarot work from my other writing, so that you can move to different sections right from the home page.

I am also looking at which categories are best to publish and promote this series in, and at keywords. Then I need to look at what kind of posts I want to make on the social networking sites, so that people aren't seeing and hearing the same thing day after day.

I am also looking at where I want to see this series go, and in what sequence. One book a quarter, for as long as I can come up with fresh ideas. As long as people want to improve themselves, I think there will be fresh ideas!

I love the process of writing, and am beginning to tune in more to the process of publishing, and e-publishing. Whatever your passion is … follow it!

© November 2012 Bonnie Cehovet

So Much Info ... So Little Time!

I cannot believe the amount of very cool information that has come my way this week! Let's start out with a link that my sister, Becky Lundin, sent me, from marketer Tiffany Dow: Google Author Tags. This is a really great concept, basically creating a two way link between an author's blog and their Google + page. It is not too difficult to impliment, and creates a sense of "authority" when the author shows up in a Google search by placing their photo tot he left hand side of their link. Here are a couple of other links that may help you to understand this process: Adding the Rel=Author To Wordpress, and How To Impliment rel=author For Enhanced Search Results.

This is a serious article, written with a sense of humor. I came close to falling out of my chair laughing at mistake number ten! 15 Word Press User Errors That Make You Look SIlly (Infographic).

This next link is from Rodney Holt, founder of Concept Visual Inc.. Rod was the presenter of the first (and only, so far!) Google Hangout that I have ever attended. He is bright, asks the right questions, has a great sense of humor ... and ... of importance to us authors ... his company does an incredible job of creating promotion packages for books. His packages include a video book trailer, book cover,exclusive author interviews, enhanced SEO, and increased visibility of Twitter, Facebook, and Linked In, and exposure on his author interview show. His latest package can be seen here: Concept Visual Special. Check Rod out!

Last, but not least, a few words on a really incredible e-book by Shelley Hitz - Marketing Your Book On Amazon - 21 Things You Can Easily Do For Free To Get More Exposure and Sales. Well written, with step by step instructions on what to do, when, and where. The sections on the Amazon sales page, and the Author Profile page were areas that I needed to "up". Wonderful reference material here!

November 2012 Bonnie Cehovet

Marketing Your Book On Amazon Author: Shelley Hitz
Independently Published
Kindle Edition
2012

This is an amazing book that is targeted specifically at promoting books on Amazon.com. Writing a book is the first step, getting your book published is the second step. Then comes the marketing … at which point many authors throw up their hands, or drop back ten and punt. Neither strategy will get your book out to the intended audience. Hitz takes the reader through a step by step process, making best use of the marketing strategies available on Amazon.com.

The book is written in a manner that anyone can follow, yet you never feel the material has been “dumbed down”. Written for authors that have previously been published, as well as authors new to the publishing game, Hitz lists the key areas to focus on, and goes through a step by step process to get the most out of them. She addresses making best use of your Amazon sales page, choosing the correct categories for your book, working with Author Central, adding your books to Author Central, changing your book categories for print books, changing your book categories for Kindle e-books, linking print and e-books, adding search keywords, adding tags, keeping an updated Author Profile, posting reviews on your sales page, updating your Amazon public profile (I would have never thought of this!), adding extras through Shelfari, working with the Amazon Associate program, digitally autographing your Kindle e-books (This was news to me!), promoting your book via social media, promoting your book with KDP select, and a nifty post publication checklist that I printed out and am going to have laminated!

I am very excited about the information presented here, and intend to keep it close by my side!

Bonus material is also included: free downloadable templates, and the report “200+ Free Book Marketing and Author Tools”, and a video tutorial.

© November 2012 Bonnie Cehovet

Bonnie Cehovet – Google +

Promoting e-Books

I am over half-way through a short (approximate 20,000 word) book on surviving the holidays. It is going up through Smashwords as an e-book. Now I have to think about howto promote this book, taking into consideration that this is the first in a series of self-help books that I plan to put out there. Simple thought process here - if people like one thing that I write, it is in my best interest to offer them other things to read too!

That much I am sure of. The marketing itself - that I am not sure of. I am working (at least with my first book) with an almost non-existent promotional budget. But more than budget, I am thinking about where to market to reach my target audience - women of all ages that are interested in being the best that they can be. This is often a hard things to do, as by nature women tend to put others first. Setting that aside for a moment, what do I need to know about marketing an e-book?

I have defined my target audience, now I am trying to develop a written marketing plan. I could choose to go with Kindle's KDP program, but I am not going to, for a variety of reasons - the main one being that it limits me to promoting through that program for a specific period of time. Multiple streams of income sounds better to me. Things that I will do include creating a page for my book on Facebook, creating a page for my book on my personal site, and chatting it up on Facebook, Twitter, and Google +. I will also either have a book trailer done, or create a short animated video to put upon my site, and on you tube. I will be contacting other authors in the same self-help genre, and ask if they would review my book, if I were to send it to them. And I will have a give-away, as the book should be up by the end of November (I can push it for the holidays). I may also put out a free sample chapter from the book.

What else do I "not" intend to do? I do not intend to do any "blog a thon" activity, nor do I intend to do guest posts. These are time consuming activities, if done correctly, and they would not make me happy!

One more thing that I am considering is having a book launch party - or, rather, a book launch cyber party! I have friends with confetti and glitter that will join in ... that would be fun!

Off to do some more thinking!

(c) November 2012 Bonnie Cehovet