One of the things I do, when I finish a rough draft, is get back to what I least enjoy-- marketing, i.e. promotional stuff. I admire writers who put many hours and much insightful work into promotion. Some are quite good at it and make it seem like fun (even if it wasn't). Unfortunately, promoting is not my thing. I say unfortunately because where it comes to any kind of publishing, promotion is essential if one wants their books ever seen again.
When I got into blogging, I slowly created blogs for different purposes. The general one is Rainy Day Thought which has almost nothing about my books. It is about ideas, photography, creativity, and whatever comes to my mind.
The first one aimed specifically at promotion for books was Romance with an Edge. I chose the title because it's how I see my stories-- love stories but with an edge, a challenge, and danger as a part of the mix. That blog ended up a place to put longer pieces about love stories. It is where I have defended the best of the romance genre as healthy for readers and writers.
Reading vibrant love stories is one way to help readers raise their kundalini or shakti energy. The articles suggest other ways, but reading books definitely is one-- vicarous excitement.
So you don't want kundalini energy? You sure? It's life force, the primal nature. Passionate human encounters can be where it is found most powerfully (can be hardest on it too). Do you have to go out and have an affair to acquire it? Definitely not. You can experience this energy and rise up your own through mind and spirit, by following your passion. When it happens, your juices flow ;).
Oh, you are old and no longer want juices flowing? Well, I can't say much about, but if you do... find a good, hot romance novel and see what happens, the kind that tells more than a love story but that excites about life and about overcoming challenges. Sweet romances as well as spicy can touch that basic energy.
This blog, Rain Trueax, is not as oriented to the romance novel itself as it to the creative life in totality. Here I get into marketing (never yet have felt kundalini energy flowing into me from any marketing work), my art (definitely can feel the universe flowing into me when a painting is coming from deep inside), and it is where I write about the joy/angst of being a creative person. Although I might discuss here why I wrote a book or how I wrote it, it could also be about a painting (planning to do some of that in Arizona this trip).
Most recently, the biggest marketing goal I had was to create a page and link to take a reader to all the sites each book can be purchased. I was pleased when I started this project and realized the blog I had created last summer, the plural of Romance, with no real purpose in mind for it, Romances with an Edge, would be perfect for the links.
One of the things I say a lot here is whatever you want to do in a creative vein, get into it and see how it goes. Don't wait until you know all the directions it might lead. I call it the muse at work when I end up getting something weeks ahead of needing it. Romances with an Edge was one of many of those.
At first I thought I'd have all links beneath a scenery picture of the region the book is set, but then it dawned on me I could create something deeper, an image that depicted the energy within the book, its underpinnings. Creating that made this whole job a lot more fun than I had been anticipating. The new image ended up being a second cover (one and maybe two of them may become the actual cover as I liked these energy oriented covers a lot). Putting together new images with a small quote from each book was the reward for the other part of the job.
Setting up working links is anal, detail oriented work-- not my forte. The Amazon links I had. The others were acquired by my publisher (also known as Farm Boss and husband) by sending each book to Direct 2 (to) Digital who then sent it onto Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, Inktera, and Scripd. When they accepted them, he emailed me the links. I only had to keep straight for which book and which site-- hopefully.
For now I am not putting a link to Scripd on the page because it's a site that people join and then borrow the books for free; so I am not sure how that works for the writer, but it's part of what D2D does. My books are there. So, if anyone here belongs to Scripd, you can find them under Rain Trueax.
Inktera was a new site to me also, but it's good when small sites are putting out books. Some of these sites have already had sales for my books; so Amazon is not the only dog in this fight... and yes, marketing can feel like a fight and struggle.
I am happy to now present two covers to my books. This project, despite how I wasn't looking forward to doing it, was a win/win; and for readers, it offers one more look at what they will find if they read the book.
When I got into blogging, I slowly created blogs for different purposes. The general one is Rainy Day Thought which has almost nothing about my books. It is about ideas, photography, creativity, and whatever comes to my mind.
The first one aimed specifically at promotion for books was Romance with an Edge. I chose the title because it's how I see my stories-- love stories but with an edge, a challenge, and danger as a part of the mix. That blog ended up a place to put longer pieces about love stories. It is where I have defended the best of the romance genre as healthy for readers and writers.
Reading vibrant love stories is one way to help readers raise their kundalini or shakti energy. The articles suggest other ways, but reading books definitely is one-- vicarous excitement.
So you don't want kundalini energy? You sure? It's life force, the primal nature. Passionate human encounters can be where it is found most powerfully (can be hardest on it too). Do you have to go out and have an affair to acquire it? Definitely not. You can experience this energy and rise up your own through mind and spirit, by following your passion. When it happens, your juices flow ;).
Oh, you are old and no longer want juices flowing? Well, I can't say much about, but if you do... find a good, hot romance novel and see what happens, the kind that tells more than a love story but that excites about life and about overcoming challenges. Sweet romances as well as spicy can touch that basic energy.
This blog, Rain Trueax, is not as oriented to the romance novel itself as it to the creative life in totality. Here I get into marketing (never yet have felt kundalini energy flowing into me from any marketing work), my art (definitely can feel the universe flowing into me when a painting is coming from deep inside), and it is where I write about the joy/angst of being a creative person. Although I might discuss here why I wrote a book or how I wrote it, it could also be about a painting (planning to do some of that in Arizona this trip).
Most recently, the biggest marketing goal I had was to create a page and link to take a reader to all the sites each book can be purchased. I was pleased when I started this project and realized the blog I had created last summer, the plural of Romance, with no real purpose in mind for it, Romances with an Edge, would be perfect for the links.
One of the things I say a lot here is whatever you want to do in a creative vein, get into it and see how it goes. Don't wait until you know all the directions it might lead. I call it the muse at work when I end up getting something weeks ahead of needing it. Romances with an Edge was one of many of those.
At first I thought I'd have all links beneath a scenery picture of the region the book is set, but then it dawned on me I could create something deeper, an image that depicted the energy within the book, its underpinnings. Creating that made this whole job a lot more fun than I had been anticipating. The new image ended up being a second cover (one and maybe two of them may become the actual cover as I liked these energy oriented covers a lot). Putting together new images with a small quote from each book was the reward for the other part of the job.
Setting up working links is anal, detail oriented work-- not my forte. The Amazon links I had. The others were acquired by my publisher (also known as Farm Boss and husband) by sending each book to Direct 2 (to) Digital who then sent it onto Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, Inktera, and Scripd. When they accepted them, he emailed me the links. I only had to keep straight for which book and which site-- hopefully.
For now I am not putting a link to Scripd on the page because it's a site that people join and then borrow the books for free; so I am not sure how that works for the writer, but it's part of what D2D does. My books are there. So, if anyone here belongs to Scripd, you can find them under Rain Trueax.
Inktera was a new site to me also, but it's good when small sites are putting out books. Some of these sites have already had sales for my books; so Amazon is not the only dog in this fight... and yes, marketing can feel like a fight and struggle.
I am happy to now present two covers to my books. This project, despite how I wasn't looking forward to doing it, was a win/win; and for readers, it offers one more look at what they will find if they read the book.
