Category: Books

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Book Marketing and Promotion 101: The Organic Method

Beginner Steps in Book Marketing and Promotion.

So, here I am, starting from scratch. Again.

I uploaded my novel, Masters of the Elements: Resonance, the first in the Paragon series, at the end of November as an ebook, and then later in December, as a paperback. And began thinking about marketing my book. 

Fast forward. Here I am in February after numerous delays, all completely legit (no excuses here), but I’m only starting now to market my book. 

Only… I am not so savvy in this department. In fact, A real novice. I have been doing some research, and more research, and it has become overwhelming. Find Readers; Get reviews; Build an e-mail list; Sell, sell, sell! And I froze. Mainly because I don’t want to bombard my social media lists with advertisements about my book. Over and over again. It makes me uncomfortable to do that.

The (Writing) Fool

0 – The Fool

Now, some of you may (or may not) know that I am also interested in Tarot and Astrology. I even have a book (Journal) printed called A Personal Tarot Journal: An Intuitive Journey. But I’ll leave that one for another post. In any case, I pulled a card at the beginning of last week, and it was The Fool. 

Now, one of the most meaningful interpretations for The Fool is to find a mentor, someone who has already done the work to guide you where you feel you might just “leap off that precipice feeling happy, happy, happy, but not knowing what the hell you’re doing.”

Hey Everyone! Here’s my new book!

The first in the Paragon Series

I left a post or comment or two on one of my social media threads. And EJ Runyon, my developmental editor, caught sight of it and left me a message.

— If you need a session on how to learn book marketing and promotion for your novel, let me know and we’ll do a session.

— Really? You do that too?

— Yes!

So, after my numerous distractions and delays, I set up a Skype appointment with EJ Runyon, and let me tell you, she dragged (not literally of course) me back to the starting line and gave me the pointers I needed. I suddenly feel less overwhelmed.

Lagging behind in book marketing and promotion.

Yes, I am lagging behind a little (no, horribly), but I have decided to go with the flow. I know there are certain steps which I missed, such as the proper way to do Pre-order Promotions, the Release Announcement, the Press Release, and the list goes on. But I’m not Stephenie Meyer or M.L. Stedman… yet.

When I am less of a novice and more knowledgeable in Book Marketing and Promotion, I will NOT miss those steps. Mark my word. 

Training and writing.

In the meantime, I’m doing my training using my first book (It’s been my Learning Baby from the get-go.) And I am currently writing the second in the series!

Book Marketing and Promotion — step by step.

Now, I’m ready to start the marketing and promotion of my book. Step by step, following EJ Runyon’s tips and techniques to growing your following with the organic method. Connect with her, she’ll be happy to set up a learning session with you! 

On your mark. Ready. Set. GO!

Living an extraordinary life, 
CC Sullivan

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Cutting the Superfluous …

tulip-Tappancs_pix

Going through the First Pages (course and actual pages) and the process of cutting the superfluous . . .

The flowery stuff. The extra fluff. The words that we fill in between the important ones.

It’s painful, but it needs to be done.

Maybe I can put all those extra words into a vase on my desk like cut flowers. They will die off in time.

Now I need to remember this process each time I write, read, rewrite, and edit.

Cut the unessential …

Words.

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(Tulips by Tappancs – pixabay.com)

 

 

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We’ve Only Just Begun …

tea-cup-2107571_640
I’ve just started taking a course with Laura Drake called “First Pages” through Savvy Authors site. I’m really enjoying it.

I know Laura Drake through the FB group, Readers Coffeehouse. So, it’s a real pleasure to be taking her course.

I’m using Book 1 “Resonance” for the course, and even though we’ve only just begun (yes, just like the Carpenter song), I’m already enjoying the course.

This will truly be helpful for Book 2 and Book 3, which I have already begun writing.
There’s always something to learn. That’s the beauty of writing…

(teacup by TerriC – pixabay.com)

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Creativity Surge and the Colour Green

Green

I look out my window where I sit to write and I notice that the colour in front of me is green. The leaves on the trees, the bushes, the plants, the grass. On a grey day, like today, and after a thunderstorm, the green is deep and lush and overflowing. I soak in this colour because I know that, in a few months, this same greenery will be covered in white. It will be a different world out there from today.

I feel lucky that I have this view from my desk. For me, it beats the concrete, man-made world, that I have to go to during the week. Peace. Quietude. Solitude. Calm. In this space, I can hear my own thoughts.

Seated in my yellow wing chair, before heading over to my writing space, I felt a vibration coming up through my right foot that was nestled comfortably on the lush brown carpet. The vibrations were coming through from the ground up, and this feeling resonated with the chapter I read from Fruitflesh by Gayle Brandeis.

 

Trunk

Our bodies are like tree trunks, simultaneously anchored in the earth and reaching toward the sun. Creativity surges inside us, green and alive; when we tune into our bodies, we can tap the force, the source, that brims in all our cells.

Gayle Brandeis

 

Coffee sure is good this morning. Ahhhhh.

Enjoy your weekend!

CC

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Fruitflesh… and Setting The Mood

Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write by Gayle Brandeis. I’ve had this book for a while on my shelf and so I grab it (finally) and open it up. I’ve spent the last few months working, writing, living, and not writing this blog. So I figured I’d come back to my blog today… with a fresh start.

The first entry of Fruitflesh just happens to be my favourite so far. I hope the author will not mind me posting this entry. I find it extremely inspiring.

Page 13: Fruitflesh Meditation: Mango

Hold a mango in your hand, Notice how solid it feels, rooted firmly in its own skin. The flesh inside is incredibly sexy—moist and slick, saturated with shades of sunset and intense, ambrosial flavor. The mango is wild but centred, its seed supportive as a spine.

Slice off a wedge of mango. Bend the fruit back, like a neck arched in pleasure. Explore the sweet flesh with your tongue, your teeth. Devour the fruit until your whole face is slippery with its juice.

Let your writing be like this feast—bold, sensual, unapologetic. Enter into it fully, with your whole body, without hesitation.

Gayle Brandeis

Beautiful. Simply beautiful. Whenever I read this first passage, I want to dive into writing the way I would dive into eating this fruit. Messy, dripping, sticky, sweet. There’s no stopping to wipe my fingers because the next bite just saturates my fingers all over again. There’s no point. I have to go through from start to finish enjoying the process without stopping. By the end, there’s  a gooey mess all over my hands and face. And when it comes to the end, I feel that same disappointment as when I have to stop writing. Real life. And, with the fruit, the process of cleaning up the mess.

I’m back.

CC

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Writing 1000 Words a Day… and the Daily Goal of Nothing (Lately)

Writing on my novel has not been happening very well lately. I have been in a limbo mode the past couple of weeks and I’m not sure whether it is because I’m avoiding writing my book or trying to get some writing done in other capacities. I think it’s the avoiding one. And, it’s not because I don’t have any inspiration because I do — plenty of it.

I normally do the daily goal of writing 1,000 words a day — or at least using that as my benchmark. If I only get a 100 words in, I am actually happy that I got something down. It takes very little to please me obviously (haha.)

I’m not quite sure whether these days it’s because I’m a little burned out, work is getting in the way, or have some form of ADD and want to do a million things at once while not doing anything at all.

It is frustrating and I feel like I’m on the edge of ‘something.’ Is that ‘something’ the abyss or a major breakthrough?

I hope I snap out of it because the “Finish My Novel Goal” for my second novel (and third) is the end of July. I best get cracking as we are already halfway there or so it feels.

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What’s the Visual? Adding Power To Your Writing.

What’s the Visual? Adding Power To Your Writing..

Here is another very good article by Margie Lawson on adding descriptive power to your writing. These are the kind of articles to keep in your repository to remind you that writing is a powerful vehicle that can be used to enter the reader’s mind.

Show, don’t tell.

 

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Burble (bûrbl)

Word of the Week

Burble. I like the way this word sounds – like a babbling brook. It is a word you read or write down but not necessarily a word you would use in every day language. It’s a combination of gurgle and bubble, and sounds like a phonetic description of the sound that comes out when someone is excited and bubbling over with words. When you read this word, you have to stop and enjoy the sound it makes in your mind. There are some words that do that to me, and this is definitely one of them!

— Go to http://www.thefreedictionary.com/burble for the full definition.

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Writer Strong – Is Your Dialog Doing Double Duty?

Hi Everyone,

This is a re-blog from Writers In The Storm Blog, that I really enjoy reading. They offer some very good tips and insights on writing and other miscellaneous subjects.

I just wanted to share this particular post about Dialogue in your writing as it struck a chord and was very useful.

Thanks, CC

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