October Writing Prompt

October 29, 2015 / Marcia Meara / 5 Comments

She thought she could hide this on her own blog, but I found it, anyway! Neener, neener, neener! 😀 Great one, Caitlin!

Before the month is over, I figured I should participate in Marcia’s October Writing Prompt at least once.

This month’s prompts are:

Candles or candlelight
The colors orange and black
The smell of cinnamon
A racing heart
A cry in the night

I decided to go with the first.

Flicker

Flicker, flicker, warm and bright

warm golden pools

throwing back the dark night

soft glow

flame atop a wick taking flight

flicker, flicker, warm and bright

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What You’re Promising By Writing a Novella

October 28, 2015 / Linda Lee / 6 Comments

An enlightening post about writing a novella…Thanks, S.E. Jones.

NEW Book Bloggers Hashtag #TuesdayBookBlog

October 28, 2015 / Rosie Amber / 10 Comments

#TuesdayBookBlog

Most Twittering bloggers know about the benefits of ‘blog share’ days; it all started with Rachel Thompson and her fabulously successful #MondayBlogs. Now, there is also #wwwblogs on Wednesday (Wednesday women writers), #SundayBlogShare, #ArchiveDay on Saturday, and many more.

Since Rachel started #MondayBlogs, she’s been battling against people using it for book promotion; her view is that you have six other days of the week to promote your books, but #MondayBlogs is about the writing itself ~ in other words, blog posts about anything other than your book! She now states that there should be no book promotion of any sort on #MondayBlogs, not even third party reviews, which is understandable as there are so many ways in which her guidelines can be abused.

Because there are so many avid readers, writers and book bloggers who understand the benefit of blog share days, Rosie Amber’s Book Review Team is introducing a new hashtag on Tuesdays, for book posts only: #TuesdayBookBlog. The first day this will be used is Tuesday, November 3rd.

As anyone who starts a hashtag knows, the main difficulty involved is dealing with ‘hashtag abuse’ ~ tweeters who spot a popular hashtag and add it to any tweet, whether relevant or not. We will do our best to limit this; please feel free to point someone in the right direction if you see this happening.

So what are the guidelines for #TuesdayBookBlog?

DO post:

Blog posts only!

Book reviews ~ either for your own books, or other people’s, or book reviews you’ve written on your blog.

Author Interviews ~ yours or others’.

Cover reveals ~ yours or others’.

Upcoming/new releases ~ yours or others.

Articles or guest posts about books/writers ~ you/yours or others’.

DO NOT post:

Anything that isn’t a blog post

Blog posts that aren’t about books/writers.

Porn.

Blatant promotion of an existing publication that isn’t a proper article – in other words, we don’t want to see a blog post that consists of nothing but the cover of your book, Amazon blurb and buy links. This was one of the ways in which #MondayBlogs was abused, after people were told they couldn’t use the hashtag for tweets with Amazon links.

To get the most out of #TuesdayBookBlog:

Retweet others on the hashtag and spread the word. Hashtags work best when you do your bit, too.

The power of Twitter is in the retweet, more than the tweet. Hashtag retweets are never guaranteed, but do remember that the more you do, the more you are likely to get back.

We hope you will achieve good results from #TuesdayBookBlog, and look forward to seeing you there!

Last Few Spaces left on the #MysteryNovember Tour

October 27, 2015October 27, 2015 / Rosie Amber / 5 Comments

Just a quick note to say there are only a few spaces left on my #MysteryNovember book tour. If anyone wants to promote their book for FREE they need to act NOW

contact me via https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/contact/

When they’re gone, they’re GONE.

Amazon #1 #BestSeller – yay! #UrbanFantasy

October 26, 2015 / Marcia Meara / 4 Comments

Congratultions to Deborah Jay! Nicely done, Deb!

deborahjay

Yup, enormous thanks to all of you who downloaded Sprite Night while it was on promotion – it made it to the #1 position in one of its US categories, and as high as #4 in the other – [pause for author to grin maniacally].

And here’s the proof:

Or in prettier format:

Now I know it seems like a bit of a cheat to call it a ‘bestseller’, when it was actually free, but hey, it’s my first #1 on Amazon, so perhaps you can forgive me that little conceit?

Not quite as stellar results on the UK site, but still very pleasing, as the categories are far larger – no ‘short read’ categories here; in contention with full length works:

Numbers

The all-important bit. This was my first time running a free promotion, and I had no real idea what to expect. I’ve seen people throwing around huge figures in…

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Do You Want to be a Guest Blogger?

October 26, 2015 / Marcia Meara / 4 Comments

Yooo-hooooo? It just so happens I have an opening for a Guest Blogger this Friday, 10/30. If you’d like to contribute a post on almost any subject, let me know. And even if your post doesn’t relate to any books you might have out, you can mention them, with Buy links, at the end. Email me for more info: mmeara@cfl.rr.com

Thanks! (If no one volunteers, I’ll be forced to be my OWN guest, you know. 😀 )

#BookishQuotes as Promised!

October 25, 2015 / Marcia Meara / 9 Comments

Here are a few quotes on books, reading, etc. Not to be confused with a few quotes FROM books. (I’ll do that another time). I think most of these speak for themselves. 🙂 Enjoy!

Continue reading →

Setting is Crucial to Your Story…by L.A. Murphy on A Writer’s Path.

October 25, 2015October 25, 2015 / Linda Lee / 3 Comments

Source: Setting is Crucial to Your Story

Shaking Up the Old Inspiration Board

October 25, 2015October 25, 2015 / Marcia Meara / 12 Comments

As I complete Chapter 5 of Harbinger, Book 3 in my Wake-Robin Ridge series, I’ve shuffled the images on my cork Inspiration Board to reflect what I’m working on. Namely, the Appalachian version of the Celtic legend of the Black Dog, known in our mountains, as Ol’ Shuck. If you see him, it means someone is going to die. So, my working environment now exhibits less this:

Or this:

And more this,

this, or

even this! (Notice the footprints. Eeep.)

Out with these guys,

…and IN with THESE!

Whaddya think? Is this a Bad Trade, or WHAT? 😯

#Bookshelves, As Promised!

October 24, 2015 / Marcia Meara / 14 Comments

Here are a few clever and interesting bookcases for you to admire. Or copy. 🙂

Here’s a clever way to fit bookshelves into smaller rooms, or where wall space is limited.

Another idea for where wallspace might be limited…or already filled with other bookcases. (Where you find these honkin’ big stone steps, I haven’t a clue!)

How about something a tad more creative? Is this fun, or what?

The perfect bookshelf for those of us who REALLY like things lined up just so!

Bookshelves needn’t be expensive to be clever and fun.

How about a bookshelf with a view?

Or a bookshelf you can sit in?

And finally, a bookshelf that’s really NOT, but reminds you of your favorite books every time you head upstairs. If we were still in our two-story house, I would SO do this!