Unique 4RV Children's Book, SPEARFINGER, Receives Amazon Honor

     Charles Suddeth (@CharlesSuddeth on Twitter), with illustrations by Carrie Salazar, produced one of the first bilingual English - Cherokee children's book we've been able to find: Spearfinger. Charles Suddeth wrote the story based on a Cherokee legend. Tim Nuttle translated the story into Cherokee, which Lawrence Panther edited. Renee' La Viness worked hours to make sure both English and Cherokee worked together and nothing clashed or didn't agree. Carrie Salazar (@swampmonster) made the story live with her marvelous artwork. The unique book interests children and adults.

     Spearfinger, a witch, terrorizes the Cherokees of the Smoky Mountains. No one can stop her. A little boy named Chucha battles her. Can he discover her secrets? Can he put an end to her rampages? The answer is found between the covers of the book, which is available in both hardback and paperback versions.

     Of course, we hope people order copies of the book from the 4RV Bookstore or the 4RV Shop-lets in Oklahoma City/Edmond, but Amazon has given Spearfinger  an honor already:

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#1 New Releasein Children's American Folk Tales & Myths

#1 New Release in Children's American Folk Tales & Myths.

     Congratulations, Chuck, Carrie, Tim, Lawrence, and Renee', for the beautiful final book. 4RV is fortunate to have quality authors, artists/illustrators, and editors.

     Please visit the 4RV website and the 4RV Bookstore.

Vivian Zabel, President of 4RV Publishing

Traditional Publishing House based in Edmond Oklahoma

WEBSITE     BOOKSTORE     TWITTER     FACEBOOK

Gaining Readers

What’s the best all time way to sell books?

                                Word of mouth

Getting word of mouth working for you comes from getting more people to read what you write. Each of us have only so many friends that will purchase our book, so we need people we’ve never me, never will, and won’t look us up until they’ve read something we wrote that they like.

 

What’s the best way to accomplish that?

                                     Online -  Blogging and other social media

                                     Physically - Periodicals and newsletters

Establish a blog site.

         It doesn’t have to be fancy  That's good news for the tech-challenged like me. If resources are few, use a free site like blogger or wordpress. Hire an expert if money isn’t an issue. Don’t stop with just a blog, make sure you have a page about yourself and one for your books.

 

Do these blogs tell you something about the author?

 

http://childrensandteensbookconnection.wordpress.com/

 

http://vivianzabel.blogspot.co.uk/

 

http://www.janetkbrown.com

 

       Spread the word. On your blog, institute a RSS link at least to Amazon’s author central page, Facebook or Twitter or whatever other site you can master.

     Make it easy. Get a domain name based on your name. If you have time and energy to set up two blogs, put one in the name of your book. I found most people that hear about you on a loop or from an article will try to find you by name. It’s simple and lives on after you publish other books.

    Continuity and frequency are imperative,, so whatever you do, don’t set up a blog and forget it. If you can’t post 2-3 times a week, post once a week. Don’t forget. Don’t skip a week. Don’t take a break. Blogging should be like taking medicine. If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember and then continue on schedule.

     Make them look. Each post should have at least one semi-meaningful or eye-catching graphic. Visuals make posts distinct and fresh. Links to other blogs interest more people. Posts should be “your work.” How else will a reader become acquainted with you and your writing? Author interviews or other authors visiting your blog is a super idea, but even then, add your own personal touch. Open ended questions solicit comments.

Did I make you look?

 

     Check results.  Keep up on the stats from your blog. What posts are read the most? That makes it easy to see what you should write next time. Of course, if you write, non-fiction, readers expect you to “stay on topic.” For fiction writers, choose items included in your book, such as setting, or identifying with teens, or recipes. Decide who you’re targeting, readers, writers, or both.


How about Facebook?     
      Facebook  brings people together in conversation. Used by many, both young and old, it’s a good place to start getting out your name. Take a course or get a helper to set up an author page. Use it for your writing, and your timeline for personal. Decide where you want your RSS feed to go.

Anyone for other social media?

      Decide what works for you. A sweet friend, Mary Beth Lee, taught me about Twitter. I accidentally lapsed into Google plus. Karen Cioffi-Ventrice suggested Stumble Upon.  Someone sent me a link to Linked In. Anything you add to your list can be helpful. The main thing to remember is that’s better not to add one, than to add it and forget it.

                  Remember that continuity and frequency thing.

Another online suggestion is post on other people's blogs.
                Guest blogs
                Blog tours
                Regular spots on group blogs

What can you do to get your writing out other than things online?

     Write short stories, articles, devotions.

     Submit to periodicals or magazine even if they don’t pay.

     Work for hire counts.

     Newspaper articles introduce readers to you and your work. 

     Anything you write may cause someone to pick up your book.

 

How do you gain readers? I would love to get other ideas. We authors are always looking from something new, aren’t we? 

Facebook as a Marketing Tool

by: Stephanie Burkhart

In today's Internet savvy world, there are numerous social networking sites you can use for promotion. They include Twitter, Triberr, Blogspot, Wordpress, Pinterest, and Facebook.

Facebook is a great way to appeal to the Internet audience.

Do you remember the basic thought about your marketing spheres of influence? There's you, the people you know, and the people you don't know. Facebook, in theory, allows you access to the people you don't know. (Though they've made it tougher over the years due to their algorisms)

A Little about Facebook:

Founded in 2004

Headquartered in Menlo Park, California

As of Sept 2012, Facebook has over 1 billion users (however 8.7% are fake)

Using Facebook:

One must establish a personal profile to use the site. You can add "friends" to your profile and customize your privacy settings.

As an author, artist, or publisher, you can establish a "fan" page. This fan page is a great resource to post updates, new releases, giveaways, new covers, and reviews.

Stimulating Interest and Conversation:

Ultimately, you want to hook readers and keep them coming back. The best way to do this is to ask questions which stimulate conversation. I might suggest topics that appeal to current interests staying away from politics and religion which can be polarizing.

Some example questions include:

What book are you reading now?

What's the latest movie you saw?

Chocolate or Vanilla?

What's your favorite summer fruit?

You could also host daily trivia question. Topics include:

Cooking

Movies

Music

Games

Olympics

Sports

You get the idea.

The point is to keep people coming back and generate interest in your product.

Time

Facebook has many features that require a lot of time so I might suggest using a time limit when at the site so you can focus on other marketing endeavors. 30 minutes might be a good place to start and you can gage the rest from there. Use a timer with an audible tone to help you keep track.

Other Features:

Facebook has other features you can use to include photo albums, tags, a news feed, chat, poke, messages, likes, games, and gifts.

Question for you: What Facebook features appeal to you? What marketing/promo efforts work for you on Facebook? I'd love to hear your ideas.

Author Bio: Stephanie Burkhart is a 911 dispatcher for LAPD. She's a Cub Scout mom, loves chocolate and adores coffee. Her latest book with 4RV Publishing is "First Flag of New Hampshire," a YA mystery.

You can find her at:

WEBSITE:

http://www.stephanieburkhart.com

TWITTER:

http://twitter.com/StephBurkhart

FACEBOOK:

https://www.facebook.com/StephanieBurkhartAuthor

GOOD READS:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4031660.Stephanie_Burkhart

YOU TUBE CHANNEL:

http://www.youtube.com/user/botrina?feature=mhee

PINTEREST:

http://pinterest.com/sgburkhart/

Do You Use Social Media

Do you use social media as part of your marketing and promotion?

First, what is social media?

Social Media is any online form of communicating which individuals employ; including blogs and microblogs like Twitter.  Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+ are social networking sites, of which there are many, and are a demarcation to  "industrial media," referring to radio, television, and film produced by professionals in these areas of media.

Since we now have a basic definition of what social and network media, do you employ these on a regular basis to let readers know about you, your writing, available books, and your work in progress? If you don’t, why not?

If you are writing for yourself, social and network media may not be as important to you; but if you want to get your writing into the hands of others, social and network media should be as important to you as writing the book itself.

As an author, you need to contact reviewers to write and post reviews on blogs,as well as mention the book rating on micro-blogs and networking sites. Give reviewers a picture of the book cover for their book review blog. 

These activities should be part of your promotion and marketing. You need to begin actively working on all forms of social and network media at the same time you begin writing your first draft.

Unless you have a secondary income other than your writing or are on a limited budget, it’s up to you to handle promotion on your own, rather than paying to have it done for you.

Social and network media is the new era of publishing for authors.

Robert Medak

Freelance Writer/Blogger/Editor/Proofreader/Reviewer/Marketer

http://xeeme.com/RobertMedak

Social Networking by Katie Hines

I'm still adjusting to the idea that social networking sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, are important to me and my book, and thus, worthy of my time. Why are they, and how many should you establish a presence on?

I think exposure is the key: the more our name is in the great "out there" the more people are going to be interested in what you're doing, in what I'm doing. I'm tweeting on Twitter, and it feels so strange, because I'm not engaged in personal conversations with people. I do, however, realize that the more people that I follow (within reason), the more people will see about me and my work. The concept of tweeting 3 times a day or so takes some getting used to.

Facebook is fun, but it takes time. I have to admit this is the most fun social networking site that I'm on. I've met people I thought long gone from my life, and I'm trying to follow conversations and comment on people's walls that I think fall within the demographics of those I am wanting to reach with both my name and the name of my book.

I also belong to JacketFlap, and haven't really gotten the hang of that, either. I guess I need to make a more concerted effort to get there and "do something." Not sure what that is, yet.

In case you've never heard of JacketFlap (I hadn't heard of it until a couple of weeks ago, either), it is simply one in a list of sites I haven't heard of before. If you're into social networking--and we as authors should be--then you may want to consider some further social networking sites: Nothing Binding, Shoutlife, Live Journal, Authors Den, LinkedIn, Scribd and Axis Avenue. I have only made brief visits to these sites, so be sure and follow up on your own. Ning groups are also a great way to garner some exposure. These sites are not all social networking sites in the way Facebook or Twitter is, but are sites to be aware of where you can gain exposure and network.

Why are these sites important? Because, the more social networking groups we are a part of, the more varied of an audience we will have for our name/book. Do what I'm doing. Take the time to learn and participate. I am, and I firmly believe you will be glad you did.