Link Fiesta

Apple is revamping the iBooks store! This is good news for me because I'm thinking of taking the Banshee Creek series wide during the summer. I'm doing one last sales push in KU to see if it sticks, and if it doesn't it will likely go wide by June.

Nook is also revamping. Hallelujah!!

Is the Instafreebie gold rush over? I'm experiencing this phenomenon too.

Best 2017 book marketing advice for authors.

We are getting a "feminist" Charmed reboot,  a "dark" Sabrina the Teenage Witch reboot, and a Supernatural spin-off called "Wayward Sisters." I'm really excited for all of these.

Link Fiesta

Chris Fox breaks down a bestselling Amazon launch.

Christina Dodd has a great post on getting Bookbub followers. And, seriously, how annoying is it that Amazon doesn't provide follower info?

C.D. Reiss also did a great post on using Bookbub ads for a book launch.

Easy tips for creating a series bible.  I didn't do a series bible for Banshee Creek while I was writing Must Love Ghosts, and it's one of my biggest regrets because all my books are set in that world and my readers love the characters. Now that I'm writing Claire Delacourt's series and revisiting those first books so I'm taking advantage of this and finally writing a series bible. Better late than never!

And here's a handy-dandy pre-publication checklist and a great KBoards post on urban fantasy tropes Yes, Drop Dead Witchy will have a UF feel too it. I hope it works. *crosses fingers*

Link Fiesta

Promoting a sequel with BookBub Ads. I'm thinking of trying out BookBub ads with my next release so this is very helpful.

Awesome Kristen Ashley interview on breaking all the rules.

What are the rules I broke? First, I didn’t write what I thought people wanted to read. I didn’t research what might be popular — what might sell — and write that. I wrote stories that felt personal to me, that I enjoyed completely from writing to reading. The first book that I did this with was Rock Chick, and with it and the Rock Chick series, I broke all the rules..

Awesome SJ Pajonas post on drafting an email welcome sequence for your mailing list.

Link Fiesta

Another one I haven't done for a while. I'm not sure what happened last year,  but folks weren't really talking about writing so much, or maybe I just wasn't paying attention.

Now that numbers are being crunched for tax season, I'm starting to hear that most people didn't have good years so that may be it. That makes sense because we tend to only write when we find new techniques and strategies that work. Why blog about stuff that's not working?

But that seems to have changed. Here are some links:

Kit Rocha has a writing podcast (30% chance of chicken coop talk) and it's fantastic.

Lindsay Buroker had a bunch of posts on process and audiobook options.

The SFF marketing podcast had a couple of good episodes. Here are my favorites: urban fantasy (apparently now a "useless" category which is good to know), writing in a niche genre (and finding your tribe), and using Instafreebie to build an audience (plus some great advice on how to track your reader data). They also had a fantastic 2016 wrap-up podcast with lots of advice for 2017.

And a whole bunch of author Facebook groups have popped up, and most are dishing out great advice. Check out LoveKissed's guide for tribe-seeking newbies, if you haven't already.

Link Fiesta

Maverick women writers are upending the industry and making millions.

Interesting interview with Rachel Aaron on her use of American mythology in her Heartstrikers series.

Chris Fox talks on launching a book written to market.

I love this poem. If it's out of copyright, I'll use it as one of Abby's lullaby songs. Hard to believe she's a mom already, right?

Link Fiesta

8 Top Marketing Tips from Digital Book World. Is it me or is the concept of "author platform auditing" kind of creepy?

What are successful authors doing? Insane. Successful authors have an average of 13 books and "emerging" authors have 7. I'm not even "emerging" then since I only have four books out. I guess I'm a "pre-emerging" author then. :)

A fantastic second book release strategy from Kboards.

Also from Kboards, what two years of self-publishing gets you.

Link Fiesta

Why book launches aren't a measure of success for self-published books.

Oh Em Gee. The bodega cats have their own wildlife-documentary-style YouTube videos ("The ultimate urban predator...the bodega cat"). This is fantastic. I'm currently plotting a Manhattan Witches mystery series and I'm definitely adding a magical bodega cat. I need a good name for it, though. Chango? Tiamat? Azufre? Any ideas?

How to weave story elements and avoid info dumps. This is a very timely article for me. As the Banshee Creek series grows, I find myself with a lot more background information to impart to readers.

What's your reader retention plan?

Link Fiesta

Loch Ness monster erotica. Yay or Nay?

About stacking book promotions.

Montmatre's "Hell" cabaret. This is pretty cool. I have to use it in a book sometime.

Sometimes writing is disappointing.

The organized writer: making a production and marketing bible. I have to build one of these. I've been rushing through my new releases and haven't had time to do so. This time, I plan to take the My Ghostly Valentine release nice and slow. That way I should be able to make some check sheets to use for next time.

Link Fiesta

Chuck Wendig's advice for the mid-list author.

Selling books in the digital age.

SJ Pajonas built her own treadmill desk! And she made a video about it. I'm impressed.

Russell Blake on writing a page turner.

A lot of the writing oats I put up nowadays address the book glut. Guess what? It's not just books. Television executives also think that there are too many good TV series out there. They call it "content overbuilding."

Link Fiesta

Have publishers shot themselves in the foot with costly ebooks? I suspect so. My husband freaked out this weekend when he realized that the Kindle version of the new Longmire book was $13.99. It was huge sticker shock. The effect will likely be delayed until popular authors release new books and their fans realize that prices have risen, but it will be there.

The Oregon Bigfoot Highway.

The Hot and Cold Book Categories for 2015. Romance is down 9% (yikes!) and Science Fiction is up   22%. I wonder how much of that 22% bump is due to Star Wars (and how much will it seep into other Sci Fi) The other big winner? Adult Coloring Books. I saw my first adult coloring book at the grocery store yesterday so maybe that trend is already supersaturating.

How to use Price Promotions to Market a New Book Release. Useful advice from Bookbub.

Link Fiesta

Sidney Bristol has a really excellent word count tracking spreadsheet. I should try this out this year.

Great Kboards post on redoing covers (by C Goekel). This is very timely for me because I plan to redo my covers this year as part of the Great 2016 Rebranding. I feel kind of ambivalent about it because I love my haunted house covers (They're purple!). Oh, well, thanks to the magic of self-publishing, if the new covers don't work out I can always go back.

Reducing stress as a writer.

Building your author platform.

Rachel Aaron lists the three things you need for killer dialogue. Want a good laugh? Here's the 15 worst lines of movie dialogue ever.

Link Fiesta

Ebook marketing and getting the word out on a budget.

The secret of writing an action movie in book form.

A hilarious look at author marketing.

Zoe York on that "how do you know if you suck" post.

Link Fiesta

When do you get hooked? Netflix knows and, apparently, it's usually anywhere between the third and eighth installment. I've heard some Twitter chatter between authors and people seem to think that it's after the second book in a book series. Interesting.

Writing tips from Sarah Maclean.

Self-publishing on a shoestring.

Have you seen SpookedLive? It's a live show in the UK where they recreate the experience of a genuine Victorian seance. It sounds pretty cool!

And, finally, my books are on sale through Thursday. You can get Must Love Ghosts for FREE and Ghost of a Chance for $.99. :)

Link Fiesta!

J A Huss on the importance of marketing. Wow, this post makes me feel like a total slacker even thought I busted my butt for the Banshee Creek launch. She has more posts on self-pub advice here. I love her post on book trailers. It's so useful! She's also running a Christmas promo (mostly New Adult) this year and has invited authors to join.

Excellent advice from a bricks and mortar bookseller. Applies to all walks of life.

Halloween Margaritas!

Great Writing Advice from Twitter == #NINC15 Edition

And here's Michelle Willingham's tweets from the Courtney Milan workshop. I really should use Bitly more. I always mean to, but I forget. I'm posting this as a reminder to myself. :)

Link Fiesta

Should I give up my writing?

How to write your book blurb.

Great post on technical debt and how to future proof your business. It's aimed at trad pubs, but I think a lot of it applies to self-publishers as well.

What cocktails can you make with Unicorn Tears?

Link Fiesta

Emily Henderson on picking a book cover! How fantastic is this post? My favorite designer talking about how to design a book cover. I love the fact that her book over took almost as many drafts as mine. It makes me feel better about the gazillion cover mock-ups I have in my hard drive.

The Cliffs of Insanity! Awesome KBoards thread on the 30/60/90 days Amazon "cliffs." Really good info. (BTW, here's a behind the scenes look at the making of that scene. I didn't know they actually filmed it on the Cliffs of Dover. Wow.)

Great advice from JA Konrath.

Candy corn Jello shots!

How Banshee Creek Got Its Name.

Did you know Banshee Creek was based on a real place? It is! I was searching through maps, looking for a place to plant my fictional Virginia town, when I found a Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve in Loudon County.

In the early part of the 19th century, the region was populated by Scots-Irish immigrants, and the owner of the farm was one of them. In the Gaelic language, "banshee" is a female spirit and "reeks" refers to hills and dales. 

The nature preserve's website explains the origins of the strange name.

"According to the story, one night the farmer went into the town of Leesburg to attend to personal business and also paid a visit to the local saloon. While traveling back to the farm, the wind howled and the animals of the night made much noise.  Upon arriving home, the farmer was in such a state of mind that he claimed that he heard a banshee on the reeks. The phrase was altered over the years and the area became known as "Banshee Reeks".

I stole the story and used it as the legend behind my little town. I had to change the name, though. "Reek" may be a hill in Gaelic, but in modern day English it means "stink." That's not the kind of thing you want associated with you idillic (albeit slightly haunted) small town. A small rivulet called "Goose Creek" crosses the preserve and that gave me the idea for a name. That's how "Banshee Reeks" became "Banshee Creek."

In my mind, the town looks a lot like Middleburg, VA (except it's not as wealthy, it has a lot more Victorian architecture, and it has a lot more ghosts). You can see some inspiration pictures in Pinterest. You can also visit Banshee Reeks and even camp out for the night. Who knows? You might find a Banshee in the "reeks."

Link Fiesta

Freebooksy data on how to price your bargain ebook. (spoiler: $.99 works best)

You can now spend your vacation running  a bookstore in a small town in Scotland. This sounds like a dream holiday to me...or a romantic comedy plot.

Kindle counterfeiting. So many scams...so little time.

A book about a haunted IKEA store. This is brilliant!

Link Fiesta

Maybe you need to write more books. Nora Roberts has 348 published books (including translations and stuff, her J.D. Robb pen name has another 87). Yikes!

I'm doing research for my St. Patrick's Day novella, The Girl With The Lucky Charm, which takes place during a poker tournament. Guess what I found out? Horror actress Shannon Elizabeth is a poker stud! She almost won a charity poker tournament against some high-flying hedge funders. Cool.

Cecilia Tan blogged the #RWA15 "How to Write a Series" panel with Shannon Stacey, Marie Force and Jill Shalvis. Lots of great advice there. I really should work on my series bible. I keep meaning to, but, you know, there's always more interesting stuff to do. :)