Before, During, and After Publishing: A Marketing Checklist

September 24, 2018 / Marcia Meara / 4 Comments

If any of your are as bad at social media marketing, cover reveals, and book launching as I am, you’ll really like this helpful list Staci Troilo has put together. And even if you are much better at it all than I, you’ll probably find some things you haven’t thought of. Check it out! And pass it along. 🙂

Story Empire

Ciao, amici! If you’re like most writers, the actual writing process is fun(ish) for you. The launch, on the other hand, is probably a soul-sucking, frenetic nightmare. There’s nothing worse than feeling like the people in the graphic, standing on your soapbox announcing to everyone in earshot that you have a new book for sale.

Yeah, that’s a horrible feeling, especially when no one cares.

I’ve been releasing a lot of titles lately, one under the Staci Troilo brand and a few as Keira Beck. So when I tell you I’ve been in launch-mode for months, that’s no lie. While it’s foremost on my mind, I figured I’d share my checklist for before, during, and after the nerve-wracking publication process. Much of what I’m going to share won’t cost you anything but time. But remember, time and money (when you’re talking promo) tend to have an inverse relationship. The more…

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Guest author: Sarah Brentyn ~ Be the Grain You Were Meant to Be

September 23, 2018 / Marcia Meara / 5 Comments

Here’s a guest post from Sarah Brentyn on Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo that I think might strike a chord with a lot of you. Check it out! 🙂

Sue Vincent's Daily Echo

Image: Pixabay

In one day, I saw three negative opinions about indie “authors”. (I use quotes here as these opinions implied indies are not actually authors.) One was a blog post and the other two were strings of tweets on Twitter.

They were of the mind that all writers who self publish completely, utterly, and in all other ways suck. They gave “proof”. (I use quotes here as my opinion implies that what they offered was not actually proof.)

Their “proof” (there are those pesky, sarcastic quotes again) is as follows…in a nutty, nutty nutshell:

If indie authors could write a decent book, they would be picked up by a traditional publisher. Period. Full stop. End of story.
“Real” authors (who are traditionally published) think indie authors suck, too. So there!
Indie authors are mucking up the world! Pigs are flying! Hell is freezing over!
Indie authors are so bad…

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Thank You!

September 21, 2018 / Marcia Meara / 12 Comments

Thank you so much for the wonderful and generous response you gave when I asked for help with my Emissary 2 cover reveal. I am overwhelmed that so many of you stepped up to volunteer to host a reveal post on your blogs! What a lovely group of friends and fellow writers we have here.

Because so many responded to my call, I have almost more posts lined up than I can handle, so no need for any more volunteers at present. But please know that your generosity has touched my heart, and I consider myself unbelievably lucky to be part of our fabulous online writing and blogging community!

The 2018 Interview Series featuring Staci Troilo

September 21, 2018 / Marcia Meara / 2 Comments

Check out Don Massenzio’s latest interview, this time featuring Staci Troilo. And be sure to take a look at Staci’s latest book, too. It’s very near the top of my TBR pile, for sure! Enjoy!

Don Massenzio

This week, I am very pleased to feature an interview with author and blogger Staci Troilo.

Staci is a very supportive blogger and an excellent author. I hope you enjoy learning more about her in this week’s interview.

If you are an author, and would like to be featured in my interview series, I have spots open beginning in mid-October. Please email me at don@donmassenzio.com and you can join the >200 authors that have been featured this far in my author directory.

Now, please enjoy this week’s interview with Staci Troilo:

Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

I know there are a lot of people who write to market. I’m not good at that. LitRPG is huge right now, and I don’t know enough about it to do the genre justice. Nor do I have the time to try. I believe…

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Looking For a Few Kind Bloggers – Cover Reveal – #Paranormal #UrbanFantasy #Angels

September 17, 2018 / Marcia Meara / 35 Comments

I’m pretty excited to be doing my very first cover reveal as part of a book launch for The Emissary 2: To Love Somebody. I’m hoping some of you would like to share my beautiful new cover on Thursday, September 27. If you have a spot available on that day and would like to to help me share, please email me at marciameara16@gmail.com

I’ll be setting the posts up in HTML format to speed the process up for you. All you have to do is open the file, then copy and paste into your WordPress text editor. Easy-peasey! Hope some of you will be interested in participating.

The Emissary 2: To Love Sombody is my second spinoff novella from my Riverbend series, and picks up the story right where The Emissary 1 leaves off. Lots of fun and adventures with Jake, Dodger, and their boss, the archangel Azrael. The first book in the series has gotten some lovely reviews, and I hope the second one will do so, as well. When I have the third Emissary novella written, I’ll combine the three so I can also offer them in print format.

I’d love to give your readers a first peek at this gorgeous cover, by Nicki Forde Graphic Design, and I thank you for any help you can offer.

Update#2 on My Family – #HurricaneFlorence

September 16, 2018September 16, 2018 / Marcia Meara / 23 Comments

Now THIS is the way to ride out a hurricane! First you find a place where the beaches are calm and sunny, and you can stay in a condo with a gorgeous pool. Of course, it must be well out of the dreaded Cone of Uncertainty predicted for any hurricane that happens to be threatening a given area.

Then you take your boogie board to the beach in the morning, before the temperatures reach brain-baking levels, and later, head back to your air-conditioned quarters until it cools off enough for a lazy afternoon dip in the pool.

When the all clear sounds, you return to your home with your fingers crossed that your neighbor (who chose not to leave) has been truthful when she said there are no ugly surprises awaiting you.

Yep. The evacuation orders for Charleston have been lifted, and as far as we know, all is well with my daughter’s house. This isn’t the way they prefer to plan a vacation, but they made the best of it, enjoyed the infamous Emerald Coast of the Florida panhandle for a few days, and will soon be home again.

I can now breathe easy knowing I have fulfilled my sacred duty as a mom to issue hour-by-hour updates and warnings throughout the entire ordeal. 😀

On a serious note, as rivers continue to rise, especially throughout a wide swath of North Carolina (where many people no longer have homes to return to), the danger of record-breaking floods is still a huge problem. Please keep those good folks in your thoughts and prayers. And thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your thoughts and prayers for Erin, Myres, Kaelen, and Reya. It meant a great deal to me to know so many people were thinking of them throughout this ordeal. THANKS! 🙂 ❤

Maybe We DO All Live in a Yellow Submarine…

September 15, 2018 / Marcia Meara / 9 Comments

A post sure to bring a smile (and maybe a tear) to those of a certain age (like myself) who remember every one of these songs, each from the day it hit the airwaves. Made me smile all over to read it, and after the ongoing drama of this past week, I need all the smiles I can get. How about you? Check it out and pass it along. After all, all you need is love! 😉

roughwighting

When I saw him standing there, I was transported immediately to Yesterday.

Somewhereon Penny Lanewhere blackbirds sing, I fell in love with him. I promised to be true, just as he asked, even though I was just 17 and not yet a paperback writer.

Now, in a vast concert hall where everyone was twisting and shouting, my best friend, Eleanor Rigby, began to scream.

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Update on My Family in Destin, FL #HurricaneFlorence

September 13, 2018September 13, 2018 / Marcia Meara / 25 Comments

When you have no control over what might be coming your way, and you’ve done everything you can to be prepared, this is what you do: take your children somewhere safe and live in the moment with them. Be joyous for the time together. Be hopeful for the future. Trust that things will work out as they should. And send pictures like this to your worrywart mom.

Tomorrow will be here soon enough.

#HurricaneFlorence & Family Update

September 12, 2018 / Marcia Meara / 29 Comments

Just want to thank everyone who has sent their well wishes and prayers out to those in harm’s way from this potentially devastating storm, including my daughter and her family. After changing their plans several times yesterday, they decided to head farther west instead of south, and left for the panhandle last night. I think it was the right decision. Florence has seemingly turned to the south, now, and might make a direct hit on Charleston, instead of North Carolina. In fact, the last image I saw projected it spreading completely through Georgia and into northeast Florida, around Jacksonville.

Destin is way to the west of those areas, and after spending last night in Tallahassee, Erin called to say they arrived there an hour or so ago. The latest on the storm also said it may not make landfall until Saturday morning, which could mean they’ll be staying over there an extra couple of days, until the all clear has been given. They should be able to ride out the storm there in safety, and that’s the most important thing. I do hope their home is spared any serious damage, flooding being the biggest risk right now. But I can breathe easier knowing they are many miles away from the area.

Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers. They have been greatly appreciated!