Book Cover Competition

My book cover for Beasts and Savages has been entered in a competition. That’s right, this one:

 It’s number seventeen. The numbers are listed under the covers. I was confused when I checked that out, so I thought I’d mention it.

 

So, wonderful followers, I’d love it if you could stop by and give me a vote:

http://www.ultimatefantasybooks.com/competitions.php

 

 

We’re in the first part of three stages, which ends March 29. The top ten will move on.
Stage two runs from 31st of March to 7th of April. The top two covers get to take over Ultamate Fantasy Books’ Facebook page and the from of their website. Final voting is by judges, and winners are Announced April 14th.

What do I get if I win? The following:

Certificate to display on your website.

Book review.

Book Trailer created by Saskia Book Service (Value 50 Dollars)

Promotion of book for a full week after the competition, through social media: Twitter, Facebook, TSU, google plus, LinkedIn ect.

That’s right, some pretty awesome stuff.

Take a second and vote. You don’t have to sign up for anything. And you’ll make this girl’s day.

Thank you!

9 Motivational Quotes That Will Super Charge Any Dreamer’s Life!

Dream Big Dream Often has some Sunday inspiration for you! 

As most of you know I am a gigantic fan of reading inspirational and motivational material as a way of keeping my fire burning.  So…here are 9 motivational quotes that will super charge any dreamer’s life! Good, better, best. Never let it rest. ‘Til your good is better and your better is best.   St. Jerome […]

http://dreambigdreamoften.co/2016/03/20/9-motivational-quotes-that-will-super-charge-any-dreamers-life/

Meet & Greet!

This is one of the best meet and greets I’ve participated in!

Character Interview ~Illusional Reality’s Becky~

As YA author of Beasts and Savages (Which, by the way, is doing a one-time stint on Kindle Unlimited right now), I’m always excited when I get to highlight books and authors of Young Adult/New Adult genre.

This week, a new NA romantic fantasy hit the Amazon shelves. Illusional Reality by Karina Kantas is a book full of romance, action, and magic. Becky, or Thya, as she’s know in Tisnia, is an executive that is taken from her home on Earth and told that not only is she the princess of a magical land, but she is expected to marry Kovon, son of warlard Darthon  so that peace will prevail over her homeland. Thya is more strong willed than her council expected, falls in love with a member of her council, and must find another way to end a war.

Not only have I had the chance to read and review it (see my 5-star review here), but I got the exclusive first interview with the main character, Becky (Thya), herself!

 

Now that we know a little a little bit about Illusional Reality and Becky’s story, let’s get on with the interview:

Emma: Hello, Becky! Welcome to Words from Emma Woods.

Becky: Glad to be here.

Emma: Becky, back before, when you were a marketing exec, did you feel like there was something off with your world?

Becky: Nay, we partake in war, murders there are many strange and evil people.  Regrettably, this is the norm. I had not notion that Tsinia existed. I was adopted and I loved my adopted parents greatly and I did not search for my birth mother. Now I know I would never have located her.

Emma:  In your magical world, your “real” world, do you have an official title?

Becky: My title is Princess Thya, ruler of Tsinia, guardian of the changelings. My Kinsmen address me as Lady or Thya.

Emma: When Salco rescued you, what was your first reaction to him?

Becky: *smiles* Salco has a gentle temperate as do most of my kinsmen. He has intelligent eyes. I did not deliberate. I was frightened and this stranger was prepared to aid me. I trusted him wholeheartedly.

Emma: When you learned that you were to be betrothed to Darthorn’s son, how did it make you feel? This is on the surface, before you knew everything.

Becky: *laughs sarcastically* Ha! How would you have reacted? I was just informed of who I was, where I originated and how superior my parents were. I did not knowledge of this Kovon & Darthorn and the Darkeye. Yet to be told that my future had been mapped out and I was to wed Kovon, was enough. Not one will ever command me.

Emma: Why is the counsel of Tsinia so certain that a union between you and Kovon will create peace?

Becky: The Tsinians have existed by the codes and Oracle’s so when my coming was prophesied, they were uncertain how I would aid them. So it was the council that formed the absurd contract with Darthorn. They were convinced this was the true path.

Emma: The people of your land are trying to forget the destruction at bay. What types of things did they do to feed this delusion to themselves?

Becky: They knew that conclusion was close but they had not sadness or fear as the prophesy spoke of a Ganty that would deliver them and save them. *shakes head*

Emma: Let’s be girls and talk clothes for minutes. Which outfit do you prefer: Becky the professional, or Becky from the magical world, the fiancée of Kovon?

Becky: *Thya splutters in her water glass and coughs* Fiancé to Kovon! *mysterious wind blows here hair*I was never his fiancé and I command you not to mention his name again or this interview will be concluded. *becomes relaxed again and breathes deeply * Yes. I prefer the garments in Tsinia. They are cool, flowing and elegant. The Tsinians dress in basic sensible but somewhat dull attire, save there is a feast or celebration then you will see my Kinsmen in their finery.

Emma: Okay… um, let’s talk about your life on Earth. Do you ever miss being plain old marketing exec Becky? If so, what you miss about it?

Becky: *Life was simple, worries and stress were naught compared to my reality. What I miss the most is the laughter of children. *head bows down to the floor*

Emma: We all tell little white lies. What’s the best (or worst) little white lie you told?

Becky: *Head comes up, big smile * Too many on earth. *looks sad again* If you are hiding the truth from someone so it will not hurt them and remove their faith, is that a black or a white lie? That is the lie that will remain a secret.

Emma: I’d like to conclude this interview with my favorite question. So, I understand that there is a mystery man who you have a certain… fondness for. Without giving too much away, can you tell us what you find attractive in him?

Becky: Where do you get your information from? Although tis not a secret * tears well in eyes* he is kind, with haunting blue eyes and his smile so tender and sweet. He understood me more than any other. He was commanding and bossy at times but all with good reason. We will conclude. Pardon, Do you have a tissue?

 

Quite a character, isn’t she? This interview is the first stop of Karina Kantas’ Blog Tour. If you’d like to  know more about Illusional Reality, Karina Kantas, and the wonderful world of Tisnia, check out Karina’s Facebook page, Amazon author profile, and Blog Tour list.

 

 

Making the Most of Your Book Description

So I’ve recently been obsessed with podcasts. I’ve listened to ten over the past three day. Instead of radio, I turn on the podcast player on my phone while I’m driving. Great multi-tasking, right? Of course!

What does this have to do with writing? Well, I’ve listened to four episodes of The Self-Publishing Podcast. And my favorite, so far, is  #176 Optimizing Your Amazon Sales Page for Conversion with Bryan Cohen

Mr. Cohen goes over book descriptions and the every changing Amazon Algorithm. He goes into the importance of a good book description and even the elements that pull people in. Below is a direct excerpt from Sterling and Stone’s website:

The anatomy of a great book description. Answer a simple question: “Why should I care?”

• The challenge of Amazon’s experimentation, and how a description that slowly warms up can keep people from clicking.
• A lot of authors rush their description to get their book published as soon as possible. Don’t be that guy that promises to come back and make it better, because you probably won’t.
• Don’t eschew great copywriting. A description isn’t art. It’s a selling tool for the art you created.
• Planning a great tagline should be like planning a great Tweet. If you can’t describe your story hook in 140 characters or less, you need to go back to the drawing board.
• Not sure how to handle Amazon’s ‘Look Inside?’ Here’s what you do. Ever wonder if people actually download samples? Find out what will kill your chances of getting a sale based on what your first pages actually say.
• Find out what common authors’ ‘blind spots’ are, so YOU don’t make the same mistakes.
• Does BookBub care about blog, podcast, and GoodReads reviews? Why you need great social proof.
• Flustered by book SEO and keywords used by the masters? Consider a Q and A ‘plant.’
• Should you use fancy fone, line breaks, and all cap intros to grab attention in your description? Hint: WHY ARE YOU YELLING AT ME?
• Why you can’t set and forget with Amazon, and why diversity is a GOOD thing, along with testing strategies to maximize sales.

After listening to this, I decided to do an experiment and make my own changes. Here’s a screenshot of what my Amazon page for Beasts and Savages looked like before:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Obviously, this is for my paperback, but my kindle is linked.  And this is on mobile, so not much is there… Overall, I didn’t think my book description was terrible, but maybe not the best, either.  Here’s the full “old” description:

Lea Corre was taught to value community, family, and The Hunt. Her blood stems from a long line of proud hunters. When Lea prepares for her own hunt, she questions the brutality and morality of the deadly custom. As Lea uncovers dark secrets and delves into her mother’s broken past, she determines she will make her own fate. Along the way she encounters Tanner, her intended prey. His village decides to take a stand against the tyranny of women. When Lea’s prey becomes her captor, she learns more about their lives, the world, and herself. In the end, Lea must choose between two worlds, in which neither she belongs.

So, what does my book page look like now?

Yes, I yelled. But sometimes I like yelling. I come from a loud family. Other than that, I took the advice of Bryan Cohen and added a tagline and call to action.

Also, I added things to my forum. I’d like to get some Q and A things going there, so please drop me a line at Beasts and Savages forum I already have a discussion going about common tropes, and would like to hear your input.

I’m not sure if this will help boost book sales, but it can’t hurt, right? Let me know what you think, and please share any experinces you have with us.

Satirical Humor at its Best

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of participating in a podcast highlighting a gentleman named Jason Klamm.  In case you’ve missed it, Here ya go:

 

 

The point of this podcast was like a round robin book club. We talked about Jason Klamm’s book Post-Modem: The Interwebs Explained, and discussed other indie books. Yes, we also talk about social media and how to grow as an author, so get that extra tidbit too.

 

This is the cover for the historical parody of the internet. It covers everything from origins of the internet, to housewives with WI-FI. It reads  like a non-fiction, and even has some wonderful pictures in it that make it all the more believable.

So, who is this Jason Klamm? He’s a very funny guy who also happens to be a director, author, and producer.

 

 

Check him out at: stolendress.com

Also, he’s running for president.

 

Seriously. He wrote a “fakemoir” called Looking Forward: A Hopemoir

 

If you’re looking for something that’s smart funny, this is it.

So You’ve Just Self-Published Your First Book and it isn’t Selling?

Finally, some real advice to indie authors. Listen to him, he knows what he’s talking about. 🙂

manxbull

Indie writers, eh?  We’ve all been there, we’ve put the finishing touches to our first novel, our veritable masterpiece, we’ve uploaded the files and ticked the boxes to complete the self-publishing process, we’ve converted the files for Kindle and now … now we sit back, checking our Amazon reports every 5 minutes, rubbing our hands together as we wait for the sales to start flooding in.  Which they don’t.

Don’t be disheartened.  This is how we all begin.  We’re one among millions and nobody knows who we are or why they should risk their hard-earned cash and time on us.  We have to learn how to make our book noticed, how to make people willing to take a chance on reading our work.  It takes time and effort.

I’m not pretending to have all the answers, because I simply don’t.  Seven years on from the publishing of Rampant Damsels…

View original post 1,968 more words

International Women’s Day

Today is International Women’s Day.

What does that mean, exactly? Well, we celebrate women and their accomplishments, and we also recognize that the progress isn’t over.

Just last night, I had a frank discussion about the presidential election and women with my daughter. She’s seven and was curious about how many women had been president. When I told her none, she was outraged.

“How can that be, Mama? There are so many girls that are smarter than boys.”

I nearly choked on my ice cream.

She then assumed that I’d be voting for Hillary Clinton so that a woman would be president. I explained to her that women’s equality meant not voting for someone because of their gender, but despite it. A president should be elected base on their ideas and experience, not by outward factors. We’ll have to go over this again when she’s older, I’m sure.

And when I told her that there was a time when women weren’t allowed to vote, she told me she was too angry to talk about it anymore. I showed her the picture below, and for now we dropped the subject.

 

According to wisegeek.com, women still cannot vote in Saudi Arabia and Vatican City, though the latter only votes on the pope, and the only voting members are cardinals under the age of 80, none of which are women because women cannot be ordained priests. There are several other countries that hold elections, and women can legally vote, but  are discouraged to do so.

What to know what you can do to help? Click here to learn about organizations that strive to help women worldwide.

Now that I’ve discussed a little bit about women and politics, let’s get on with celebrating women. Specifically, women indie authors.

Have you heard of Lisa De Jong? She’s a best selling author on Amazon and has nine books under her belt.  Her latest book was published on December 27.2015. Check it out:

On December 30, she had an interview with Huffington Post.

She published her first book in 2013, and hasn’t stopped since.

She has over 30,000 ratings on Goodreads, and has followers asking her when her next book will be out.

 

 

 

What about Deborah Blanton?

She has over 46 works listed on her author page, and her first was in 2013. Her latest, Pulse, releases in April, 2016.

 

And, last, but definitely not least, Eva Lesko Natiello. Her book The Memory Box  bumped Girl on the Train off of Amazon’s number 1 list. That’s right. Read about it here.

Eva also a really great website. Check it out: http://evanatiello.com/.

What do these women have in common? They’re successful indie authors. I applaud them, and I hope you do, too.