2013 my predictions and some off color humor.

Reading all these blogs about the new year, what people are planning on doing and in publishing what may happen in 2013. I was not going to say much on the subject as I imagined many blogs would say the same thing. To my shock and horror I'm seeing not only a lack of info on the subject but the ones I have read are way off base. Thus...you get me. lol

First off, I plan to lose a little more weight...hahaha!

What to do about Amazon...the big monster, the bad boy on the playground? We sure do love to build them up and tear them down don't we.

So far every blog I've read says that Amazon is going to go down in flames, B&N, Kobo and other sites are going to rise from the ashes and give them a run for their money. To this I giggle...snicker and break into a full laugh until my gut hurts and I am weeping!!! See I even used three !!! just to show you how funny this prediction is.

But Aaron, why do you say this? They have unhappy authors fighting bad reviews and all around they are big, mean and scary so they HAVE to go down.

I am sorry but Amazon is a baby company, just about to hit their stride and no one is in their way. B&N...who are they? Oh yeah, an old school store that has an outdated website with poor search engines. Kobo? I think I saw them on the side of the road chocking on Amazon's dust... They may be a player in 4 years but not any time soon, again, they only sell books, Amazon sells everything so they get more traffic. But wait, you didn't mention Apple.

Wow, nothing gets by you. I didn't mention them because in the eBook world they don't exist.

I guess I will mention Google only cuz if I say the word Google in my blog I might get something out of it. They put out an outdated eReader and are not user friendly. Enough said.

The simple truth is people go to Amazon to shop for EVERYTHING. They are bigger, have more stuff and ship fast. What is the downside?

Not only that but they have department after department dedicated just to eBooks. The rest treat eBooks as a sideline.

So my prediction is in 2013 there will be more of the same.
*Doom and gloom from the big 6, Indies will fall off cuz they don't sell due to bad writing and crappy covers.
*The big authors, indie and otherwise will get even bigger and to get noticed you will need to have money or be really good at building up a fan base.
*Next, Amazon will take even more marketshare and freak out just about everyone.
*B&N will shut its doors by the end of the year or get bought-out.
*Goodreads will open their doors and sell eBooks on their site and try to play the Amazon game.
*Smashwords will seal their doom as they continue to be marked as the place to go if you have no clue what you are doing. They are already known for putting out junk and as a publisher and want to be taken seriously, they are the mark of death.
*"Marketing your book" scams will explode as indies scramble and kill each other over the scraps.
*The rise of the small press will keep trending but many will fall away as they see that publishing is more than just listing a book online.

I could go on and on but you may want to know that most of this is good. Amazon doing better is SWEEEEEEET, it means we sell more books, make more cash and build a solid fan base. B&N going under is good because they refuse to change even though they know how. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out. When they go down it will send a message that people just want a good book and they want it fast and cheap. Lol... that sounds bad but its true.

How can you end the year with a smile instead of a frown?

*Keep writing books. Most will get frustrated with their sales and quit, if you don't you will do better.
*Stop talking to doom and gloom people. One they don't know what they are talking about and it is just annoying most the time. Go get a massage or get arrested, live a little and stop infecting people.
*Learn, learn, learn. The big mistake with most indies is they do not learn. They want to be spoon fed and have no clue what business they are in.
*Be nice...people like and buy from nice people. I once did not buy a book even though I really wanted to read it because I didn't like the author, they were mean and grumpy so I skipped the book.
*Write more books.
*Build a newsletter, the best way to let people know what new junk you are selling.
*Write more books.... get it?

I am really excited for this year, big things are coming and if you are ready you will be sitting really good this time next year. So strap on and put on your big boy pants the ride is gonna be awesome!




Author Aaron Patterson: Blog: The Worst Book Ever.

Social Media Rules: What not to wear!

Social Media Rules

I know, there really are not any rules, not written at least but there is a lot of unwritten ones that you should know. I mean SM is not a new thing, Facebook, Twitter, Blogging have all been out long enough that grandma is doing it so the "I didn't know!" line just doesn't work anymore. 

The first thing you should think about is WHY you are on SM. If you are a business or author you will want to do things different than a mom who just wants to chat with family and friends. If you just want to keep in touch with friends and have fun, might be a good idea to only "Friend" people you know. If you are an author like me or are looking at SM as a way to market yourself you should "Friend" anyone related to your business. 

Once you know WHY you are on SM you can begin. 

Be smart, and be a good neighbor. Bring back the tool you borrowed, don't play loud music at 2 a.m. 

First rule and the most important IMO is: DON'T COMMENT ON EVERY POST! This is a good way to stay out of trouble. Posts involving government, God, family, and justice can get heated and just because you don't agree does not mean you have to butt in. Stay out of it, your advice is not needed and it will only get you angry or worse. 

This is the problem with SM, you ready for it? 

"We were not designed to know our friends and families every thought on every subject." --Aaron Patterson

We see our friends once a week, maybe a best friend four times a week and our family every day for part of the day. In a lifetime we may never know what they think about Tuna fighting, Breast feeding or hear a crude joke come out of their mouth. SM shows us everything, the bad days, the night you got drunk and had your phone, nothing can be hidden anymore. You have to remember, if you find out something about a person you love and it is a bad thing, cut them some slack, you have things they don't like and before SM we would never know. 

Another good rule is: DON'T POST YOUR EVERY THOUGHT/DRUNK POST OR OPINION ON EVERYTHING! In a word, Shut-up. No one cares, really. We look through posts and pass over yours most days. So be fun and light, enjoy your SM time and don't use it to push your agenda. 

"Your opinion is just as important as mine." -- Me again

We live in the American Idol generation. We all think that what we think matters. We vote on shows, call in and gripe on the radio and everyone on FB jumps when we whine about something. But the truth is, you may be smart to you and your mini friend list but there are more people out there who think you are stupid and ignorant. So it is al fair... in love and SM, lol

Authors and other pushers: STOP POSTING CRAP ABOUT YOUR BOOK OR PRODUCT: Again, no one cares. It is annoying and shows your lack of skill in marketing. Post or tweet now and again but don't beat people up. If you post it all the time I will put you on the Not to read list!

DON'T POST ON MY WALL! Does my wall look like your personal banner? Do you really think I will see the link to your book and be HAPPY about it? Oh and a follow-up on this is people with an auto respond when I friend them or follow them on Twitter with a link to their product. #Lame

One more rule that seems to be hard for people: DON'T AUTO TWEET! Really, we all know you do it, we see through it and we don't respond to it, so maybe not do it?

SM is a conversation, join it or go away. Don't post and run, it is pointless. I don't care how many people follow your blog, if it does not get people to interact you are just more spam. 

These are just a few, the rest you can figure out. If you keep it light and stay out of fights you will go a long way. Hope this helps and that you got a laugh out of my spunky nature this morning. 

Later

--Aaron

Author Aaron Patterson: Blog: The Worst Book Ever.

eBook cover design! Guest post by Cory Clubb

Cory has done a few covers for me and is a great guy to work with. He is not scared to try new things and create new and exciting covers. I wanted to have him on to talk about covers as they are very important to selling eBooks. A cover is not just about cool art but getting the right cover for the right book...




Guest post by Cover Designer, Cory Clubb!

eBook Cover Design.

                  The old saying goes “Never judge a book by its cover”. Like most folks, you, for example, are just trying to break in. You’ve got your manuscript finished and are ready to throw it out into the world. Even better, with the explosion of eBooks, you’ve got an all access way to reach a real audience. Although that old saying has now become truer than you think. That’s what I’d like to focus on here: eBook cover design.

                  You, the self-pubbed author, someone who has never signed with a publishing house and you can barely stand to wait and unleash your story on the masses. This is your first strike against you when it comes to cover design. Slow down. It took you months, maybe even years to write that book. Why not take some time to package it nicely and have it done right. A white cover with the title and your name in black Papyrus font on the cover is not going to gain you readers. Seriously, I’ve seen this.

                  Secondly, you’re not a designer, you’re a writer. This is one of the hardest things about cover design in an eBook market. I’m not saying you couldn’t design a perfectly fine cover, I’m saying if you’re putting your name on the front, you’ve got a story to tell, not a book cover to create.  Relax and don’t worry here’s the upside. Without being signed to a publisher, you’ve got free reign for what goes on the cover design. Let the professional designer worry about making it look pretty. You’ve got a sequel to crank out!

                  With eBooks and eReaders almost becoming the norm in publishing these days, you have mere seconds to catch a browser’s eye. Your book is not sitting on a bookshelf in a store, no, your little baby is at the justice of a flick of a finger. Maybe we should change the wording to that old saying to “Never judge a book, BUY its cover”? And isn’t that almost the case? Because in our technology advanced society, we don’t have time to turn to the back cover blurb and read about the book. We want it in one snap-shot of a moment to know what that book is about. This too is working against you.

                  For eBooks it’s go big or go home. The reader has to remember three things when telling some else about a book. The title, the author’s name, and what the cover looked like. Be memorable and standout. There are numerous legal thrillers out there, try something new and exciting! Have said all that, do remember that size does matter. With smart phones and tablets, we see things at thumbnail size. Be generous with your font sizes and have your name be in a legible font that works to your advantage.

                  Cover design is not an easy thing to do, believe me. What most self-published authors have wrong is that it doesn’t matter, just get it out there, and start selling! It does matter! You want to be remembered after your reader finishes that final scene. Don’t just slap on an image and be done with it, have some fun, take some time, and be creative with your design. If you don’t know how, hire a well respected cover artist because they put as much passion into your cover as you have in those words.

http://coryclubb.carbonmade.com/about          

                 

A book cover needs to be unique to the story itself, inform the reader of what is going on with the plot, and the characters. It’s sort of like your elevator pitch, but instead it’s more of a tiny advertisement in that elevator and you’ve got seconds to get folks to notice it before they get off. 

-Cory   

Author Aaron Patterson: Blog: The Worst Book Ever.

Building a career: Guest Post By Allan Leverone

Building a career: Guest Post By Allan Leverone

It’s been said that over eighty percent of the U.S. population believes they have a book in them and would like to write one. If you apply that percentage to the current population of this country, there are potentially two hundred fifty million aspiring authors typing away, maybe as we speak.

In the olden days, say way back around 2007 or so, probably 249,900,000 of those aspiring authors would never have even bothered to try to write the Great American Novel, and for good reason: it was damned near impossible to get published. It was easier to marry a Kardashian—probably a lot easier—than to get your manuscript into the hands of a publisher.

Now, of course, with the rise of ebooks and the ease of self-publishing, the barriers to anyone with a story to tell and the diligence to type all those words into a computer have pretty much disappeared. And that’s a good thing.

Sort of.

The problem with typing up your masterpiece and clicking “Submit” at Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing or Barnes and Noble’s Pub-it or at Smashwords or at whatever other self-publishing venue might be out there is that being an author—if you’re serious about it—involves so much more than just writing the book.

What about editing? Have you done any? And I’m not talking about self-editing, I mean real, back-and-forth editing with a pro who knows what she’s doing. Can you take the constructive criticism intended to make your book the best it can be? Are you willing to change your baby based on someone else’s input?

What about cover art? Do you have any idea whatsoever about how to design a cover that will draw readers to your book? “You can’t judge a book by its cover” is a pithy little cliché, but unfortunately it doesn’t hold water with most people. Cover art is the first thing potential readers look at and if it’s unimpressive or amateurish or just simply inappropriate, you’ve probably already lost them. Not a good thing if you’re competing with potentially millions of books.

What about promotion? Any idea how you’re going to go about the process of introducing readers—almost all of whom will be unfamiliar with you—to you work and convincing them that your book is the one to pick out of a practically limitless supply when they’re looking for a new read?

What about reviews? They’re pretty important to developing a reputation and hopefully some buzz for your masterpiece. How are you going to convince book bloggers to give your novel the time of day when they’re already booked up months in advance?

And while we’re on the subject of reviews, what about bad ones? How are you going to react to them? Because you will get them. Are you professional enough to accept that not every reader and not every reviewer is going to think your creation is as good as you think it is? In fact, some of them are going to be vicious, mean-spirited and nasty. Can you take that? Hope so, because if you respond, even just to defend yourself, you’re the one who’s going to come off looking petty.

And these are just a few issues, there are dozens of other considerations that factor into this author gig if you’re trying to be serious about it.

I came along just about the time publishing was beginning its seismic shift from an exclusive undertaking to basically an all-inclusive one, and boy am I glad I did. I won’t kid you, it wasn’t easy getting rejection after rejection from agents—hundreds of them, if you add up the ones I received for different manuscripts—but at the same time I wouldn’t change a thing. I learned a lot about myself, about my commitment to the craft of writing, about improving my work, about picking myself up and continuing when it seemed there was no way I was ever going to get anyone outside my immediate family to read my work.

Maybe the struggle doesn’t matter to those millions of people who believe they can be authors now, the same people who tell me, in all seriousness, “I should write a book, too,” like doing so involves nothing more than sitting down and pounding it out.

But it should matter to them. Because the day you can simply sit down and do it without a second thought is the day it becomes completely meaningless, the day “author” means “typist.”


Author Aaron Patterson: Blog: The Worst Book Ever.

Social Media 101 What NOT to do (Author Edition)

Social Media 101

Okay people, we all live in this online world and I know it can be hard to know what to do and as there are not really rules set up let's look at what to do and what NOT to do.

I am going to talk about what NOT to do first as it seems many of us are having a problem with this part of our online lives.

Comments on Facebook
You do not have to respond to every controversial comment or post. In fact you should avoid them if you can. We were not meant to know people this close and for some getting on FB or Twitter can be shocking. We go from knowing some things ab out our friends to knowing what they think about EVERY subject ever created. Our natural reaction is to comment and let them know what we think and thus the fights begin. Good rule of thumb, talk about nice things and if someone is just being a jerk do not follow or friend them, it is okay to unfriend people...even if you know them in person.

Marketing your book
Market yourself by being yourself. Not by pushing your book or health supplement on people. People buy from who they like, if I do not like you I will not buy your book. Get to know people, talk and post once every now and again, most people know you have a book as it is your profile picture.

Confrontation
So I pissed you off, now what? Well, you should not blast in public all about me and how I kill small kittens. You should send a email to me and deal with it that way before going off half cocked all over Twitter and Facebook. It just makes you look bad not me. If you do not like what someone is doing deal with it in private. There are people that I know online that are scamers and downright #lame. I want to scream from the TwitterTop and warn people about them or what they are doing with some publishing scam or whatever. But do I? No.

It is about control, try to control yourself. Send a email or make a call. Live above them, do right and all the others will work out by themselves. Most of us authors will not take the time to research what we are all mad about. Try stopping and looking at it all without your black glasses on. The only time I will name names and call out someone is if I am pushed into a corner and have to in order to defend myself. But that is the very last step and I do it with care as if i am going to name names I will do it with open guns and I am not messing around at that point. But like I said...last resort.

Twitter Auto Tweets
Come on peeps... be there... be here with us. Be present. I understand setting up auto tweets for time sake, but the same tweet over and over and over again? Really? And we read it? Nope...I gloss over and look for the real people having conversations.

Facebook Groups
Do not invite random people, it is rude. Follow the rules of the group. I can't count the times I delete posts from the same person over and over again because they will not follow the rules. If there is a no promotion rule, do not promote. Come one peeps...*note: if all you do is link to your book not one person will read it or follow the link.
Join the conversation.

Facebook Bleeding Heart's
I do not care about the poor sheep in Montana or the starving trees in Iceland. Most of it is just to get you all worked up and you re-post and share the sad picture that I have to gag over... again, conversation and what do you want me to do? Go over and feed some starving tree? I am not going to give money so what is the point? Oh...yeah, to put guilt on people for living in the US... got it... *small rant.

The main thing to remember is to be nice and do not do something that you would not want someone else to do. You know...like we learned when we were 6.

If you have a beef with someone don't go off on them, be an adult and hold your little Twitter fingers. Authors, I know we are all excited about books and reading, but be careful about who you hook up with. There are a ton of scams that look all good but all the scamer wants is to sell you their book. Ask yourself, do they push their book on you? Do they push you to follow rules that they made up? Do they blast others, cuz if they will kill another author if you cross them they will kill you as well. BE SMART...oh and be NICE!

That is all...

for now

Author Aaron Patterson: Blog: The Worst Book Ever.

Bloggers and Book Reviews: Guest Post by "The Bookish Brunette"

Hey everyone! I’m Ashley, I run a book review blog called The Bookish Brunette but I’m here today on The Worst Book Ever (dude, being an author and all- maybe you should change the title of your blog... Just a thought) because Aaron asked me to write a little post from a book blogger’s point of view on the things TO-DO and the things you NOT to-do do when talking to a blogger about your book. Now remember, the things I’m about to tell you are just MY opinion- other blogger’s may completely disagree!

I’m a big fan of lists, so that’s how I’m going to attack this thing! The “TO-DO” list, being the acceptable and preferable way of handling things. And the “DO NOT- (UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES) DO” list, being the things that will more than likely make me say NO to reviewing your book.

Let’s START with the positive:

“TO-DO”
(the acceptable)

1. 

Book bloggers not only have our blogs to maintain, events to host, books to read, review and promote... We also have LIVES. Families, birthdays, holidays, bedtimes, dinner to make... You get the point.
 

When sending a review request, help us out- it will make our lives a little easier if you just send us the info we need:

• In the subject line of the email put:  Review Request: (Title of your book)
• Title, Publication details (date... etc)
• SUMMARY of your book

It’d be AWESOME if you included links to your:

• Website
• Twitter
• Amazon
• Goodreads (or similar)

 

2. 

READ MY REVIEW POLICY. You’d assume this is a given right? WRONG. There are always clear indicators when my review policy has been ignored... For example, when I get a request asking me if I only read zombie books. Uh... Really? I mean... REALLY???

3.  

Be professional, now I only say this because that’s what you’re SUPPOSED to say. In my opinion, I like a more personal approach- because I’m about as unprofessional as they come. I know right? Is it that obvious? I’m not a fan of formalities, as I happen to be a very personable kinda chick.

4. 

Have LINKS posted on your website (to Goodreads, Amazon, B&N... ANYWHERE your books can be viewed or purchased! And make sure they are updated regularly!) You’d be surprised how many authors don’t do this... Some don’t even HAVE websites. If that’s the case I can’t even begin to assist you!

5. 

Spellcheck is your friend. I’m a HORRIFIC speller... that little squiggly red line is my BFF. If my seven year old can articulate a better email than you, then you’re chances of me accepting your book for review aren’t very good. I look at it like this: If your review request email is badly written, I can’t imagine trying to get through an entire book.

6. 

If you want your book reviewed within a certain time frame, ASK. Let me know, or it just goes to the back of a very long line... My review queue is CRAZY- I do my best, but I guarantee nothing!

7.  

Watch what you say on Twitter... or on ANY social network AND who you say it to. I’m totally not even being sarcastic either. This is VERY important. There are certain authors that I REFUSE to read because of things I’ve seen posted from them on Twitter. Yeah... their book may be the best thing since the freaking Internet- guess I’ll never know.
 

If you KNOW me at all or have ever witnessed one of my Twitter conversations *giggles* then you know I’m not exactly the picture of freaking “nice, sweet, chaste, ethical or modest” Right? But, I’m also not trying to sell books... so do with that what you will!

•    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •

 

Now... FOR ME, if the following things occur the chances are VERY slim that I will review your book:

“DO NOT-DO”
(the unacceptable)

1. 

When you are requesting a review or even “casually” bringing up your novel to me, DON’T say to me “I know you’ll love my book.”
 

Seriously. This totally freaking irritates me! HOW do you know I’ll love your book? Name me 5 books that I LOVED, that somehow relate to your genre of writing. If you’ve looked at my blog and researched ME enough to KNOW that I’d love your book- then you should be able to tell me.  

2. 

DON’T address an email, “Dear Blogger”. I get that you’re busy. Hey... ME TOO! But again, if you’ve taken the time to GLANCE at my blog- my NAME is at the bottom of EACH and EVERY post. I’m not even picky, I’ll take ,Bookish Brunette’ and of course I’m ever partial to ‘Zombie Queen’ *grin*. But addressing me as ‘Book Blogger’ tells me several things:

• You didn’t even LOOK at ONE post on my blog. If you don’t care, then neither do I.
• You surely can’t know anything about what types of books I may enjoy.
• That ‘Book Bloggers’ are all interchangeable to you. If you’ve worked with any of us, then you know this is in fact, very much NOT the case.

3. 

If I say no to your request once, and you feel you MUST ask again... Fine. But, I’m PROBABLY going to say no again. DON’T get mad, WHY would you WANT me to review something I don’t think I would like? Do you really want me to give you a negative review? I HATE writing bad reviews. Seriously.

4. 

DO NOT SEND ME THIS:

Hi,

My  book is called “****”. It’s Science Fiction. I would love for you to review it on your blog.

Thank you,

****

WHAT??? I can’t tell you how many of these I get. Um... No. I’m sorry, I don’t have time to hunt down a description and decide whether or not I want to review it or not. Not because I think I’m ‘so important’ but because I’m busy.

SEND ME LINKS, or give me ALL THE INFO that I’ll need to know about you and your book in your email! (refer to #1 on the “To-Do” list)

5. 

Dude... DON’T insult me or my blog. I once had someone tell me that my blog was “too pink” but they’d still like me to review their book. Really? No thank you- me and my PINK, stiletto rated blog of AWESOMENESS have better things to do.

6. 

DO NOT assume that I’m going to review your book. ASK ME. I absolutely can’t stand when I get a “request” that says, “When will your review be posted?”
 

How about, “Never. Is never good for you?” because when you just assume that I have the time or that I WANT to read your book, I’m going to be a tad irritated.

7. 

DO NOT ask me to review your book on Twitter. This irritates me. I’m sorry, and this may make me a horrid human being... Well, so be it. Go to my blog and shoot me an email, it takes five minutes total. There are a few reasons for this, and I’ll name them for you:

• I keep all my review requests in a special folder in my email, so I’m able to refer back to it and contact the author. Over Twitter, I have no such email... and chances are your request has thus gotten lost.
• When you ask me over my Twitter feed, I have a real issue saying NO if I have no interest in reading your book. Hey, it happens. If you write historical war fiction, chances are I totally don’t want to read it at all. Not saying the writing isn’t amazing, but guess what? It’s not something I’m into. And honestly, do you want me tweeting to 2,500 people that your book holds no interest to me? Yeah, neither do I. Just don’t do it.
• The exception to the ‘NEVER’ ask over Twitter rule, is if I’ve already shown interest in reading your book (ex: it’s on my Goodreads wishlist or something similar). Then, and only then is it acceptable to assault my twitter feed.
  

Hopefully this will help... someone. And honestly, if I seemed harsh or hateful- I totally didn’t mean to. I’m just an honest and often times sarcastic type of chick (comes in handy with the whole review thing and all) Thanks for having me on Aaron!! Wicked thrilled my opinion is soooo sacred to you!

~Ashley~
The Bookish Brunette

Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads


Author Aaron Patterson: Blog: The Worst Book Ever.

And the winner of the New Kindle is...

The last 30 days I ran a promotion where readers or anyone really could re-post a link and be entered to win a Free Kindle. I wanted to do something where we the public did not have to buy something. It seems that so many FREE things require buying or giving up email addresses or cutting yourself or some such nonsense.

But this was a simple contest, I did not make any money and all it took was a re-tweet or a share on Facebook. Everyone was really great about, in fact it went so well I do believe I will do more contests like this one. So if you did not win, don't have a sad face, you will get more chances in the future.

Okay, okay, enough stalling, you want to know who the winner is!

Her name is Kammie Lisonbee. And funny enough she met me at a book signing in Park City and ended up getting a copy of Airel. I asked her a few questions and she was good enough to humor me with some answers. So here in my interview with the winner of the Free Kindle Contest.

Interview:

How did you hear about Airel?

I met Aaron at Swiss Days in Utah. He talked to me for five minutes telling me all about the book. I was really hesitant about buying the book at first, but decided to go for it. I LOVED IT! I even have it signed by Aaron himself.

What was your favorite part or scene in Airel?

I loved when Michael came back for Airel and saved her. Even though it was against everything he was taught to do. When there was people there telling him to fail, he fought for the one he believed in, for the one he loved. What can I say I'm a sucker for the love in every story.

Do you like paper books or are you thinking this Kindle will replace some of them?

I love books all books, any books. I think the Kindle will totally give a new perspective of books for me; however I know I will still buy some paper books. I like to have them in my possession as weird as that sounds. I borrow books and if I like them I still go buy them, if I loved them enough. Although I’m sure it will slow down my buying some.

As a reader what do you think of bookstores closing?

I think it's super sad. Books give us knowledge. They are great sources to all ages. We learn from them, they give us imagination, teach us. I don't think that a Kindle or a Nook should ever fully replace books. There is just something about a book that won’t ever be able to be replaced.

Would you recommend Airel to your friends?

I would Definitely Recommend Airel to my friends. In fact I already have. I posted to my Facebook and Blog! I lent to my sister so we will see how she feels about it. The story outline is very close to home for me, and I loved every second of it!

End of interview.

There you have it... I want to thank everyone for posting and being so good about this contest. Gratz to Kammie and I hope you enjoy your new Kindle!



Author Aaron Patterson: Blog: The Worst Book Ever.

The Luck Factor

As a publisher, author, and blogger I read study and look for new publishing news and information. What I try to do is planned and I am always testing things to see if I can do more to better our sales and our reach.

Sometimes this can be overwhelming and frustrating, as it is a never-ending process. As soon as I learn something new, it is buried under the next great thing. Like most things in the social media world, things are in a constant state of flux. How are we to keep up and bend? Can we ever master the art of meeting people and building a brand we can be proud of? Is skill even a factor? Can we learn or is it all just a mess of SEO and dumb luck?

The answer is both. I look at these authors that hit the top ten list and have no social media presence and when I hear hear them talk they have no clue to how they made it... it is this fluke, some sort of funny joke the gods have dropped on us just to mess with our minds. How is it that some do so well with little or no planning?

Everything I do is planned and tested, thought about and so on. But what about luck? It seems that every author that "Makes It" has this fun little luck thing going on. They try something and it just works, others follow and it does not seem to have the same results. I admit, I have this luck, some of it, but not all of it. I try something new in tweeting or promoting and it works most of the time.

This may sound great to you but to me it is a huge pain. I don't want to be a part of something that I can't duplicate or control. I want to be able to copy what works and spread it across to all our authors, but can it be done?

No, you can't teach luck, it just is...

Does that mean you have to have the Luck Factor? Nope, it just means that study, hard work, and doing the right mix of promotion and magic will still work. We can figure out what to do to be successful, but some will make it faster because of the LF.

I guess what I am saying is that if you have some luck, do not try to teach it to others as it will not work for them as it does you. But teach the things that will work even without the little dash of luck, because it is or is not... can we control it or force it to happen to us? I don't know, but I think no.

I believe everything can be done through hard work. But it does not hurt to have a little luck. If you have it, be glad but don't boast, if you don't, stop trying to get it or rub against someone who has it, work hard and we can all enjoy the fruits of our labor.

Author Aaron Patterson: Blog: The Worst Book Ever.

The Real Me

We all have this mask we wear, the one for the public, Facebook, Twitter and so on. I have tried this last year to let that fall away and be more open and honest with who I really am and because of that I have lost some friends and gained others.

What does it mean to be real? Well... something like this.

Dream and take time for yourself, life is short.

Forget most of what people tell you and go with your gut.

Friends will never leave you but will always tell you the truth even if it hurts.

Money will never make you happy.

If you never try anything you will never fail or succeed.

You are not your job.

Sometimes the right thing is the wrong thing.

We are all not as cool as we think we are.

Being a nerd is not all that bad.

I like coffee, and books, and sometimes I need to be left alone.

Going out on the town every weekend gets boring.

Even the people you trust will let you down, cut them some slack.

Trust first and doubt later.

Most stories have three sides, your side, my side and the truth.

Sometimes I hate myself.

I do things I don't want to do because it is right and do things I don't want to do because I can't help myself.

My worst enemy is me.

Forgive me for being a jerk, I don't mean it but am stupid... a lot!

I am happy even when I am sad.

One day I hope to be a good writer, but in the meantime join me in my journey.

Never regret.

Learn something from everyone you meet, even if it is what not do do.

Most people that fail in life are scared.

Sometimes just getting out of bed is enough.

It is never as bad as you imagine it will be.

Cut yourself some slack.

I wish I was a better man.

People will hate you if you fail and hate you if you succeed.

And last of all... You Are Enough!

Cheers!



Author Aaron Patterson: Blog: The Worst Book Ever.