I am giving away a FREE KINDLE!

Who wants to win a FREE KINDLE? No joke... Free. How you might be asking with your eyes full of glee!?

Step One: RE-Post this message to your blog, Facebook profile or RE-Tweet.

Step Two: Go to the Airel Facebook Fan-page, and "like" the page as well as post your link on the wall. Everyone who does this, will be automatically entered to win a free Kindle. The prize will be drawn at random and I will post the winner on the 15th of October.

If you want to say something nice about me or the book I will give you a online hug! Now that is worth almost more! Thanks everyone and I can't wait to see who wins!

Good luck all and happy posting!

Here is the link to Airel on Amazon.com

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.

"I Like Men," Guest Post by Chris Redding

It is funny to me to see women writers try to write men, and men writing women in fiction. There is that curiosity, a need to get into the head of the opposite sex. I write from a female POV about half the time and I find that I like it a lot more, and it seems, this is also the case for Chris Redding.

I agree with her, Men need to be Men. I hate TV shows that make men out to be wimps and controlled by their wife or stupid half the time. IMO what woman wants a little man who is stupid? What does that say for their choice? Anyway... I rant on, here is Chris.

I LIKE MEN

First I want to thank Aaron Patterson for having me on his blog today. He invited me after I made a comment here and I thought that was cool.

I like men. I like them to be men.

Not juvenile boys in comedies. Men. In all their flaws and warts and strengths and weaknesses.

For instance, I love the show Top Gear.
There I said it. And I’m not ashamed.
Not the lame American version. Those three guys have no chemistry together.
Nope, I like the original British version.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go check out BBC America or Netflix because you can get it on there. I’ll wait.

(Whistling. Checking Facebook and Twitter.)

Done?
Yeah, I know they trash Americans, but I’m not sure some of their criticisms aren’t correct.

I love that Jeremy is bombastic. I like that James is a little flighty and that Richard is earnest. I also like that they all get along and no matter what, even if they don’t agree, they are good-natured about it. Ahem.

Anyway. Why am I making this confession?

Because I write a lot about men. I do a workshop called Show Up Naked: Writing the Male POV. One of the suggestions I make to my workshop attendees is to watch Top Gear. (The British Version.) You will see how men interact when women aren’t around. Well a G version certainly.

And how do I know all this? I work around men. My department probably has 100 employees and I think there are ten women. Just the other day I related to the men a conversation among female friends about stockings versus not when wearing a dress. I posited that women dress for other women when if we dressed for men it would be easier.

Men like to see skin. End of story. All the men agreed.

Back to Top Gear. I love that the hosts are allowed to be men. Criticisms have been leveled at them for not having a female host. I think it would completely change the dynamic. I want them to be men. I want them to drive the cars fast and careen around the track. I want them to play jokes on each other. I want them to disagree and still be friends and the end of the show.

It’s refreshing.
Know what else I want? I want men to be allowed to be men in romance novels. I want them to be strong and weak, but in only the way men are. I want them to goof up and I want them to make up for it and when they decide they want the heroine, I want them to move Heaven and Earth to get her.

In other words, I want them to be real.

Is that too much to ask?


Chris Redding lives in New Jersey with her husband, two kids, one dog, three rabbits. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in Journalism. When she isn’t writing, she works for her local hospital part time.

On the web:
www.chrisreddingauthor.com
http://chrisredddingauthor.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/chrisreddingauthor
www.twitter.com/chrisredding

Buy links:

Corpse Whisperer
http://tinyurl.com/3qccjpt

The Drinking Game
http://tinyurl.com/3jc953b

Incendiary
http://tinyurl.com/3dh4y8o




Author Aaron Patterson: Blog: The Worst Book Ever.

BLOGFEST 100! Guest Post by Martin king.

When I think of my childhood I have so many good and funny memories that it is hard to pick just one. If I stick to reading I would say the day I read three books in one sitting and went blond for 24hrs. I had a splitting headache and everything turned white, I freaked out and yes when it went away I went back to reading under the covers with a flashlight.

Here is Martin King:

You may wonder why I am doing this blogfest of 100 mini childhood stories on 100 different websites during the month of August. Well I’m wondering the exact same thing myself... it’s killing me!

So while just releasing my first book, launching my new website, having to decorate my mother-in-laws new apartment and working full time, I’m beginning to wonder is being a writer really worth it?

It reminds me of a childhood memory of what happened one day when we were around ten years old. Myself, Holly, Baker and I think my sister too (yes they do bear an uncanny resemblance to the characters in my book), were out walking in a field near where we lived. It was a hot day and we were all just in shorts and trainers.

Half way up the field we stopped to mess around in some trees, we were always clambering around in trees like little spider monkeys. Holly was up in one tree when he slipped and fell. Now he didn’t drop far and Holly was made of stern stuff so thankfully he didn’t hurt himself badly.

However, I failed to mention he fell into a whole ditch full of nettles. Now just remember back to the start of the story... that’s right he was only wearing a pair of shorts. The poor thing was stung on every inch of his body. Can you imagine the pain? And then watching him get covered all over in calamine lotion was probably no fun for him neither.

Well in some ways, trying to get published feels that painful. To everyone else driving around on that day – it was a hot, beautiful day. But nothing is ever what it seems. Writing a book to everyone else seems amazing.

“Wow, you’ve wrote a book!”

But the hard work and pain, the social networking and marketing... none of that was written on the tin.

But you know what, I watched my mate soon recovered and he still had his mates, his life. After all the hard work of trying to get my books published, no matter what, I’ve still got my friends and my wife and my life. But now they are written down on paper... and that becomes an eternal memory.
These blogs are all about fun and sharing. Thank you for reading a ‘#100blogfest’ blog. Please follow this link to find the next blog in the series:

http://martinkingauthor.com/blog/7094550076





Author Aaron Patterson: Blog: The Worst Book Ever.

Why Social Networking is a Must for Authors: Guest post by Dana Lynn Smith, The Savvy Book Marketer

Why Social Networking is a Must for Authors

by Dana Lynn Smith, The Savvy Book Marketer

Over the past couple of years, social networking has become an increasingly essential online book marketing strategy—one that you can't afford to overlook.

Reaching potential book buyers is the most obvious benefit of social networking, but not necessarily the most important one. For many nonfiction authors, developing relationships with peers and influencers is equally important. These contacts may review your book, recommend you to others, participate in your book launch, and publish your articles in their blog or ezine.

Social networking is ideal for generating word-of-mouth online book marketing, where your message gets passed along by others. For example, when people enjoy a book, article, blog, or video, they often recommend it to others online. This type of user endorsement is more effective than traditional marketing.

Here are some other benefits of social networking in your online book marketing plan:

*Building author platforms, expert status, and brand recognition
*Getting endorsements and recommendations for your books
*Driving traffic to websites and blogs
*Subtly promoting books, products, and services
*Learning from other authors in your genre or other experts in your field
*Increasing your opt-in subscriber list
*Getting speaking engagements or consulting customers
*Improving search engine optimization and search results ranking through back links from social sites.

Which social networks are most important for authors? For nonfiction authors, my top choices are Twitter, Facebook, and professional network LinkedIn.

For fiction authors, my top picks are Facebook and virtual reader communities such as GoodReads. Other sites may also be useful, depending on your target audience. For example, if you're writing for young adults, MySpace would be a good choice. Children’s book authors can network on JacketFlap. If your target audience is boomers, check out Eons. Also search Ning.com and Google for networks that serve specific niche audiences.

Here are a few tips for getting the most from social networking:

Be selective about which networks you join and who you invite as a friend. Only invite people who appear to share common interests with you.
Send personalized friend requests, introducing yourself and stating why you want to befriend the other person.
Get involved in the community. Add value by helping others, answering questions, and sharing resources and knowledge. Don't forget to share a bit of personal information about yourself.
Be careful not to appear too promotional. It's okay to promote your products and services on occasion, but don't make that your main focus. Sending out an announcement of your book launch is fine; sending frequent promotional messages about your book is not.

While social networking is a terrific online book marketing tool, it's also great fun to meet people all over the world who share your interests. If you haven't already jumped onboard, get started today!

About the Author

Dana Lynn Smith is a book marketing coach and the author of several book marketing guides, including The Savvy Book Marketer's Guide to Successful Social Marketing . For more tips, visit her book marketing blog and get a copy of the Top Book Marketing Tips ebook when you sign up for her free book marketing newsletter.

GoodReads
Myspace
JacketFlap
Enons
Ning.com
Savvy Book Marketer Guide:
Book Marketing Blog:
Newsletter:




Author Aaron Patterson: Blog: The Worst Book Ever.