F#@$! I hate promoting!

I know that a lot of authors publish books and then leave it at that. No promoting, no marketing, just laying it all out there and hoping for the best. Some authors do well with this method - if your story is good enough, it will promote itself, right? - others not so much.

I know that promoting works, I've done it and so far, the Authority series has done pretty well however I still haven't had the kind of response I thought I'd have. I worked hard on these books. It was a long process (one that still isn't over yet) and I guess I was hoping that more people would be eager to share it, respond to it and be involved. That isn't the case though.

I'm an anxious person - like, really anxious. I stay awake at night wondering why it isn't doing as good as it should. Am I being a pain in the ass by talking about it so much? Am I following the right steps to ensure it's name gets out there on Instagram, Facebook, Google+, Twitter*DeepBreath*GoodReadsBlogsMyspaceTumblr... *Exhale*. This list goes on forever... I'm not interested in paying to promote on these outlets. I want to do this as cost-effectively as I can even though I know that it would probably help...

The problem is is that with Facebook, you are preaching to your friends, family and old high school nemesis' who are only on there to see if you've gotten fat (I have), addicted to drugs (No, but I'm sure I could this time of year) or have had ugly children ( I win on the baby-making front! They're gorgeous!). If they weren't the first ones to buy your books, they aren't going to. Instagram has a bajillion 'Authors', most of whom have publishers to promote for them and the entire day to sit around and come up with promo pics and contests. I'm a stay at home mom who homeschools my daughter and looks after the neighborhood kids. Cooking, cleaning, eating and sleeping come along at some point and before I know it I'm laying in bed telling my husband, "Not tonight, I'm too tired" and stressing over the fact that I didn't sell a book that day, post 5 pictures on Instagram or update my Fans on Facebook about my new cover reveal for the next series I'm starting. Did I bathe Darius? Does Brooklynn have that play date tomorrow?

I'm exhausted and at the end of my wits. When did writing and my book - the one that I love, fanaticize about and cherish like my child - become a chore? It's easy to get sucked into the Googolplexian (It's a real number) articles on Pinterest (Should I create a board for my books?) about marketing your novels and they all seem so easy when you're reading them but then one article sends you a link to another article and so on and before you know it you're watching a tutorial on how to apply fake eyelashes as a moustache to your cat to accentuate it's ears and wondering what the f$#@ this has to do with promoting.

 My brain cant keep up with it.

I want to go back to a time when I was excited for my books, not filled with anxiety. I want their content to speak for itself and mostly I just want to sit back and write more. I want to stop stressing over whether or not I should go to a writers convention, do a book signing or host another contest.

I guess the real question here is to promote? Or not to promote? Do I leave it all up to faith and trust in the storyline or do I ensure that they are in readers faces, a constant reminder that, "Hey! Here is an amazing book just waiting to be read?"

Ultraxenopia by M.A. Phipps - Review

I LOVE connecting with other authors. It's nice to know that there are other people out there who are going through the same things you are - on a literary level of course. With that being said, M.A. Phipps came across my path through Google+ or Facebook (I cant remember) and charmed me from the start.

I offered to review her book, Ultraxenopia, with very little in the way of expectations. While I loved The Hunger Games, Divergent and The Matched Trilogy, I never really considered post-apocalyptic stories my thing, especially (I cant believe I'm about to say this...) one from an indie author. I'm sorry, but, there are authors out there that just shouldn't. Futuristic stories require a lot of imagination, research and a particular je ne sais quoi.

M.A. Phipps has all of these qualities.

I was hooked from the beginning.

September/ October were probably my busiest months this year. I had three weddings, all of which were in different parts of the country. I had to finish writing, editing, promoting Releasing Authority and then publish it. All of this time I was reading Ultraxenopia and trying everyday my hardest to read more. It hurt to put it down. Wynter had me enamored from the first page. I felt as if I were right there with her. As if I was her because of the authors ability to not only describe the setting and mood, but to make you believe it as well.

With a name like W.A.R., it would be hard not to assume that this girl was badass. At first I was simply waiting for it. I wanted to yell at her to get her shit together and quit flaking out but at the same time, I understood her struggle. When she did get it together, and finally met Ezra, I knew I was going to like her even more. They were a great team and the tension between them... Sigh. I love tension.

Without giving too much away, there is a scene close to the end in a building with the members of PHEONIX and a certain evil doctor that had me wondering if maybe M.A. Phipps had read one of my books. Maybe taken a piece from my mind. Anyone who's read anything from me knows that I love me some bat-shit crazy females, and that's exactly what Wynter is... but in the best way of course.

Lucky for me, I got to read this book in its original glory. CHBB publishing has picked up Ultraxenopia and its series to be re-published in January. I highly recommend that when it comes out, you read it. I cant wait to see what's in store for Wynter and Ezra... My heart hurts.





















You can connect with the author here:

www.facebook.com/authormaphipps
Twitter.com/authormaphipps
Www.goodreads.com/author/show/13682371.M_A_Phipps

  

Altering Authority themes (Organized crime, theft and girl fights) according to my 10 year old daughter. I'm a good mom...

Some of you may know that my book, Altering Authority, is a bit of a wild card. The main character, Tatum is a Madam, with a string of strip clubs that she inherited from her mobster-type father. Said strip clubs are hubs for drug and arms dealers, who in turn share their profit with her. She has a temper and knows how to accurately throw knives. She falls in love with Jager, a gang leader who runs an illegal gambling ring out of his clubs basement.

They are shady characters with shady moral compasses which is why I felt it necessary to interview my 10 year old daughter on such themes. I swear, I'm a good mom...  Enjoy!

Promoting my new little baby story in a sea of bigger, more popular stories who all have lots of friends and contacts... The struggle is real.

New Author...The struggle is real.

I've imagined publishers emailing me, begging me to come over to their side. My neighbors and other members of my community recognizing me as I walk my kid to school, "Aren't you that new author of that amazing book?". I've dreamt of movie deals and one million likes on my Facebook page. Rags to riches stories like Amanda Hockings.

My book has been out for two months and the first couple of weeks I was on a high. I was selling EVERYDAY. I promoted it very little, aside from the occasional post on Facebook for friends and family to see. Reviews came in (All 5 stars) and I was so proud, elated that people saw in my story, everything I did. It REALLY is a great story!

Then I realized that the only people who knew about my book were the people on my Facebook feed. The majority of people buying, were these same people. I branched out to my community's page and with shaking hands, put myself out there. My catholic, church-going neighbors now knew that I wrote a book containing bikers, gangs, prostitutes and sex.

Still, things were slowing down. I started hash tagging everything on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest. I started a giveaway on Goodreads and on my Publishing Facebook page, I created my own website, read dozens of articles about self-marketing and promoting for new authors on Pinterest and aside from a few likes, still nothing, which leads me to believe that, while social media is the best source for promoting an indie author such as myself, my outlets lie elsewhere.

How do you promote yourself in a world where ANYONE can publish a book? Where there are probably thousands of people who, like me, feel like their story is the best? Where everyone else has been promoting for a thousand years and have written thirty trillion stories and have guest spots regularly on blogs with a bazillion followers?

Did you know there are best selling adult stories out there about Sasquatch (Sasquatches?) and having sex with a bear?! These have won awards(!) and while I'm sure they've been remarkably written, I'm sure the audience for them is far less than the audience who like a good, human love story. I could be wrong though...

I haven't figured it out yet. I'm hoping that one day I will look back at this post and think about how naïve I was but for now, I'll just keep doing what I love most, writing.