Kelly D. Smith's Blog

Here is something I’ve been thinking about a lot. Should an author send out Twitter Pm’s to every new follower? And if so, what should they send out?

Now, here’s the deal- I’ve always thought that Twitter PM’s promoting someones’ work was… eh, tacky to say the least. But I figured I couldn’t knock it until I tried it. And you know what, if it helps me gain more views then that would be amazing! I’ve been trying to get the word out about my books.

So, for a weekend I decided to do it. What did I say? Something short and sweet along the lines of “thank you for the follow- here is a free gift: a short excerpt of my book.” and I sent a link to my blog because I didn’t want to send a link to the publishers one where it was like buy the book! I read somewhere that marketing is very much about offering the client/buyer something. I wanted to focus on offering a free sample. And hey, if the sample turned into sales awesome.

So, what happened? Well, let’s take a detailed look at it and then I’ll tell you all about how I felt doing it, and about the outcome. Spoiler: It was not as awesome as I had hoped.

New Followers who got the message: 26

People who replied: 12 (I thought this was a good number!)

People who replied more than once: 7

People who were already following me that I sent the message to: 710

Views I got on the link: 21- yes our of… *does quick mental math even though she’s at a computer* 736

How many followers I lost: None! Wow, I gotta admit I was amazed about that one. 

Sales: I can’t say for sure honestly. I work with a publisher- which is kinda sad but I’ll live! 

So, overall, that’s how it went down. Are you shocked? Surprised? Were you expecting more or less than what you see here? I have to admit; I was expecting less. I was expecting many more unfollows.

I read somewhere that marketing was all about consent. And maybe that is why I don’t like the idea of PMs and why I find it so invasive. But, because I am so against it to begin with, I decided to reach out to other authors and see if they have done alright with it. The truth is, this isn’t the first time I’ve tried to do that. Just like the other two times I did it, I found two things very common.

1) There are people like me who don’t like it and don’t do it. We don’t enjoy getting them and we don’t send them out.

2) There are people who do them, much fewer people. And honestly, they seem to get very defensive when people say they don’t like them.

Oh, also apparently there is a small handful of authors who find it rude that people don’t reply to their PM’s promoting their book.

So, there it is! It’s a quick post today, but I wanted to offer something cause I know I’ve been pretty lacking recently.

If anyone wants to add their thoughts, or if they want to do their own post (maybe about how wrong I am to be down on PMs’?) I would love to hear about it!

Recently I joined a writing group in my area, and then I joined another, and then I think I might have accidently started one… Anyways I try not worry about that!

The truth is, I’ve always loved connecting with authors and writers. I love talking about writing and buying writing from people I know and support. I love being able to post promotional stuff about them and I love seeing how happy writing makes writers.

Since I’ve joined a writing group there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s helped my writing. It’s been so good for me and I’ve seen it be good for others. Sometimes, just getting around a group of like-minded (or equally crazy) people can be a good chance to just unwind, chat, and get a little motivation. So, I figured with Nano around the corner- I’m going to do a few quick posts on starting a writing group. But for now, I’m going to leave you with a word of advice.

See if there is a writing group around you.

If there is, join it. Go at least once a month. Meet other writers. Talk, listen, and write together.

How did you start writing?  

Wrote a diary of my trip with kids to Saigon and sent it to a friend who said it was pretty good and that I should write a book.

What genre would you say you write? 

Contemporary fiction

Do you have any tips for writing that genre? 

I just draw on my experiences as a starting point and let imagination do the rest

 

Do you write part time or full time?  

Pat Time

What does a typical writing day look like to you?  

2 hours in the morning before kids wake up

 

 

You’re self published, right? Tell us about how it’s been for you.

Very hard to get an in..too much competition

 

What are your tips for someone who is just starting out and wants to get their work published? 

Write  a popular genre,  or Fanfiction would be a good way to start..I believe 50 Shades started out that way

 

Not only writing tips, do you have any marketing tips for authors?  

Writing tips..Sprinkle your writing with the odd exceptional word or phrase..something that nails what you are trying to say in a novel and fun way

Market tips…not really..find an agent

 

What is something you would like to write but haven’t gotten around to?  

Still thinking about it..when it hits me I will jump on it

 

Do you have any favorite writing books? 

My favorite book is No Pryor Conviction and Autobio by Richard Pryor atm

 

In reality, how much money can a new author expect to make? 

No idea

 

What authors inspire you to write well? 

William Burroughs and Mark Twain

Where can readers/writers connect with you? 

https://bookworm194.wordpress.com/

 

How did you start writing?

 

I started writing when I was twelve!  I had just discovered the historical romance and felt compelled to write something.  It was horrible, of course.

What genre would you say you write? 

 

I write mostly fantasy and science fiction.  I started out reading romance, but really fell in love with the fantasy/science fiction genre. I’m an escapist so this seemed the most natural genre for me and it’s the one I find myself writing most often.  I love Terry Goodkind and J.R.R. Tolkien, but I also like reading self-published gems I find online.  I’m a huge fan of self-published science fiction/fantasy.

Do you have any tips for writing that genre? 

 

Yes! Just because it’s fiction and fantasy doesn’t mean you don’t have to do research –even if that research means reading anything that falls in the genre.  Also, you have to give over to your imagination completely to really write in this area. In my mind, there’s no such thing as an over the top vampire, werewolf, witch, or in the case of my current story, gods and goddesses.

Do you write part time or full time? 

 

I write part time.  I wish I could be a full time writer, but bills to pay and all of that. Lol.

What does a typical writing day look like to you? 

 

Well, I steal writing moments. I write during lunch, early in the morning, and in the evening.  But, if I’m running errands, I will pull over in my car and send a text to myself when something strikes.  

Who do you publish your work with?  

 

I’m self-published. You can find me on Smashwords, Amazon, B&N and IBooks.

How long have you been publishing your work? Or You’re self published, right? Tell us about how it’s been for you.

 

This is my first foray into self-publishing and it’s been great! It was easier than I thought. I was writing heavily about five years ago and submitted to traditional literary agents. I got so many rejections that it was disheartening.  Instead of giving up, I really worked hard on honing my writing.  I pursued the self-publishing route because it’s a short story, the first in a trilogy. I’m hoping readers will want to follow me through to the end! Writing was the easy part; marketing is the hard part.

 

 

What is something you would like to write but haven’t gotten around to? .

 

Actually, I’ve always wanted to write a psychological thriller or mystery. I’ve been working on Book Two of Gods Behaving Badly and every time I have writer’s block, I take a break from it and start working on that.  I’ve made more progress in a few months on that project than I have in two years!

Where can readers/writers connect with you? 

 

Visit my website: http://www.finewritingsite.com

Follow/Friend me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/finewritingsite/

Favorite my Smashwords author page: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/MickeyAnn

Subscribe to my blog: http://www.finewritingsite.com

Follow me on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard

Follow me on Twitter: @AuthorMickeyAnn

 

Anna Helbern, a country girl through and through, never expects to find anything in common with a rock star—boy is she wrong.

Adam Cooper doesn’t get what it is about this girl, maybe it’s her passion for music, or maybe it’s that damn tattoo she has. Whatever it is, when he asks her to do a country album with him (something no one would expect from the world’s most popular rock band) she agrees, and they head to LA—together.

Anna won’t give up her dream, and if a rock star is what’s going to make it happen, she’ll take the chance. But when she gets to LA, she can’t believe the ride she’s on, and soon it becomes clear that she doesn’t want to get off any time soon.

Click here

So, there is something I’ve been asking myself for a while now. How did I get on a best sellers list? I mean, normally I’m all gung ho’ about getting review requests sent out and doing this and that. But this time, after already having sent out over 500 review requests this year, I decided I didn’t feel like doing it. Don’t get me wrong, I did other things but from what I read, other authors stress the importance of good (or even bad) reviews, right? So what was so special about these books?

They had no reviews.

What did I do, then?

 

The answer is going to sound odd, but I did a lot of “social” marketing. Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads- stuff like that. I can’t believe how easy it is, and I honestly think it must have helped! I mean, why else would I make the best sellers list, right? I jave to admit, that these last two books I’ve been the lazies with, but based on the reaction (being on the best sellers list for almost a month) they must have done the best, right?

Is it just the fact that there were no other good books out there and that is why my books stayed on the list? Maybe. It has crossed my mind.

It could be a little bit of both. The truth is, I have no clue. But I did think it was interesting- I’d love to hear your opinions on it!

I have to admit, I’m a descriptive writer and in turn I love reading books that are very descriptive!  I like to feel like I’m immersed in the book. And for both Rock Stars Are Fun and Summoning the Demon I’ve been told that I “Drew the reader into the book”

I have to admit, that is something I took a lot of pride in! It was something I struggled with a lot, and always had editors tell me I needed to work on, so, today I want to share a couple tips with you on how to “show” not “tell.”

 

5 senses

When you feel things are getting telly, and yes we’re going to say that is the trigh word, just drop in the senses. Take a second to stop and grab a blank piece of paper. Think about where your character is. What would they likely be able to smell? What do they see looking around? What are they looking at? Would they be able to taste anything? What can they hear? What are they touching? Are they thinking anything? Write down the answer to each question on the blank sheet of paper so you can work it into the paragraph more than one time- if it fits.

 

The body talks

This one I picked up while writing a criminal profiler book. I kept my body language reference book close to me when I wrote interview scenes and I looked up the reactions for each emotion- or at least common reactions- so that I could work them in. Pick an emotion that your character is feeling and take note of 3-5 ways that emotion can impact the body (like a nervous tick or sparkling eyes when happy) and work it into one or two paragraphs. Even during a conversation or other actions.

 

Alright, so this is a pretty quick post, but these are my two favorite prompts right now so I had to share them! I’m so excited to be getting back into blogging on here and I’ll be opening up author interviews if anyone is interested!

If there is anything you’d like to see covered on the blog, let me know!

Okay, okay I know this is suppper duppper late but I wanted to at least post my writing goals on here!

 

Sign up for course
Study 10 hours- at least
Write 10,000 words. Kinda pathetic compared to normal but shits been so busy!
30 days of marketing (I can’t wait to show you what I do every day!)
Writers group
50 blog posts- some must be for this blog!

So, I posted an except for Rock Stars aren’t for Country Girls, today I thought I’d post an excerpt from the book before, Rock Stars are Fun. Take a lookie, and soon I’m going to do something about the publisher!

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“He’s single.”

Paige’s breath caught in her throat. “Cool.” She tried not to sound too happy. After all, he was just some rock star—no big deal.

Kenda raised an eyebrow. “Cool? That’s all you have to say for yourself?”

“What else am I supposed to say?” Paige shrugged.

Despite the fact that she and Kenda had been friends for a long time, they were very different when it came to these kinds of things. Kenda liked to show how excited she was about things. Paige, on the other hand, didn’t.

She liked to keep that to herself.

Her eyes drifted to the man she had been looking up and down for a while now. His black hair hung damp from sweat. His blue eyes sparkled.

He wasn’t as big as Greyson, though when you compared them shirtless they were both well matched for muscle. It was just that Kyle was…thinner.

Paige gave her friend a grin as the boys stepped off stage, it was clear Kenda was about to be very busy. Paige stepped back, allowing Greyson to pull his girlfriend into a deep kiss. Paige turned away from them, letting Kenda and Greyson to have a little privacy as she made her way over to the guitarist who had just stepped off stage. His eyes sparkled as he looked her up and down.

“Did you enjoy the show?”

“I have to admit; you weren’t half bad.” She crossed her arms over her chest, her grin widening.

“Not half bad?” Kyle laughed softly. “I’ll take the compliment.”

He stepped past her, heading toward the dressing room, where the rest of his band had gone.

Paige looked around. They were completely alone. “I was wondering, do you think you could give me a ride back to my place tonight?”

“What about Ken— Right, she’ll probably be at my place.” He laughed softly. “Sure, I’d be happy to.”

“You could always stay at my place.” Paige shrugged. “I’m sure we could find something to do.”

Kyle stumbled over his own feet. Paige glanced sideways just in time to see his brow furrow. Is he really not picking up on this? She mentally shook her head as she closed her eyes just long enough to hide the eye roll.

* * * *

Kenda and Greyson left pretty quickly after they got backstage, which left Paige alone with a band that she hardly knew. She’d like to get to know Kyle better. Since she had met him earlier tonight she had wanted to rip those torn and tattered skinny jeans off him.

What could she say? Rock stars were her thing.

Of course it helped if they were talented, and Kyle had surprised her by just how talented he was, and how much he knew about music.

“Ready to head out?” Kyle asked as he reached for his guitar case.

“Yeah.” She was utterly aware of both other bandmates staring at them. “I’ll see you guys around!” She gave them a wide smile. With Kenda dating the lead singer of their band, Paige was sure she would have to see them around now and then. Which might mean this is a bad idea. But would it really matter? It wasn’t like Kyle didn’t know anything about a one-night stand.

They were fun. That’s all it was.

As they made their way along the halls and out to the parking lot, neither of them said a word. Hell, it wasn’t even until he pulled his little Camaro over in front of her apartment building that she turned to him.

“So, do you want to come upstairs?”

“I’d love to.” He was out of his car faster than Paige was. She grinned, stepping out of the car and heading toward the door. Paige was known to go home with some of the bandmates that played at the bar where she worked, but she’d never slept with a guy who had been on a best sellers list before.

She unlocked her door and headed for the flight of stairs that was between them and her apartment—and more importantly her bed.

“I wasn’t going to offer you coffee or anything,” she said as she unlocked the door and pushed it open.

“I wasn’t under the impression you invited me up here for coffee.” Kyle’s voice sounded like silk. He reached out and touched her ass, sending a shiver of pleasure down her spine. Warmth pooled in the pit of her stomach as she took a deep breath and slipped her purse off her shoulder, tossing it onto the brown couch that was to her left as she entered the small apartment.

Without slipping off her shoes, she headed for the bedroom.

When Paige turned around she wasn’t surprised to see Kyle right behind her as they stepped into her small bedroom. It was, of course, a mess. She hadn’t actually thought she’d be getting lucky tonight. Otherwise, she would have cleaned it. But it didn’t matter. It was not like he would notice.

Kyle grabbed her wrist, pulling her toward him as his lips crashed against hers. Her fingers tangled into his hair as she pulled him closer, their kiss growing more passionate.

As I sitd writing this, it’s at #11 which may change by the time this is posted but you never know!

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Anna dropped her purse onto the table as she blew out a deep breath. Her brow still furrowed as she mulled things over. I just met a celebrity, she thought. The thought was shocking as she realized she had just met a celebrity, and more than that, she’d snapped at him.

Guilt tugged at her. She really shouldn’t have. I mean, he was just trying to make sure I was okay. That wasn’t something Anna was used to. Although she and her dad were close, she was used to taking care of herself.

That night she didn’t sleep very well. She knew it was silly to be so focused on this random guy, but for some reason she couldn’t stop thinking about him—even after she closed her eyes. Which meant when she woke up she wasn’t half as well rested as she wanted to be, and by 7:00, when she was heading out the door, she already wanted to go to sleep. Her hair teased and a pair of jean cut offs on, she felt like she should be walking toward an old pickup truck. She knew part of the music world had to do with the looks, hence the cowboy hat that she held in her hand as she slipped into the car. All right, gotta get there before the opening act gets on. She’d need all the time she could get to network with everyone.

She gunned the engine and pulled out of the driveway.

The more she was out there the more likely it would be for someone to take a liking to her. Anna quickly realized that the way to build a fan base was to be out there getting to know everyone, and that’s what she did. She knew there weren’t many other options if she wanted to succeed in this line of work.

Most people thought musicians just posted songs on YouTube or something, but that had never worked for Anna—she’d tried it. So she did it the old fashioned way.

* * * *

She pulled up to the bar with a deep breath. It looked like Jesse was here, but there was no sign of the other cars—except for James’s, but he was always here. He did own the bar, after all.

Anna stepped out of the car and grabbed her cowboy hat. She placed it over her head and padded to the back door for the band to enter.

“Anna!” James exclaimed. He padded to the bar, already getting her a drink. Anna grinned as she followed him, her heels clinking softly against the wood floor.

“I wondered if you’d be here.”

His voice sounded like silk, but it made her heart skip a beat. She spun to face him, her mouth hanging open.

“I—what are you doing here?”

“I came to see you, obviously.”

She raised an eyebrow, trying to keep cool.

“I figured it would be a safe bet to check the same bar again. I mean, you are on the event card, aren’t you?”

Her eyes widened. Of course flyers were all over the place promoting their show tonight, but she hadn’t expected him to actually notice that. She took a deep breath and smirked.

“Funny, I thought you were on an event card tonight, too.”

He laughed. “I am. I just told my friends I might be a little late. Of course, I’ll still get there before I have to be on stage. I wouldn’t make my fans wait.”

“That’s kind of you.” Anna looked him over for a fraction of a second, then held her hand out to him. “Anna.”

“Adam.”

They shook hands as his eyes roamed over her body.

“I guess you knew that though, didn’t you?”

“Nope. I had no clue what your name was.” And she hadn’t. She wasn’t a fan of the kind of music he played, at least she was guessing she wasn’t considering she’d never heard one of his songs before. As far as you know, she thought.

Adam’s smile widened. “You didn’t?”

“Nope. I saw a poster for you yesterday, that’s the only reason I recognized you.”

He let out a soft laugh. “Well, I’ll be damned.” His smile widened as James brought Anna’s drink over.

“Thanks.” She gave him a quick smile.

“Bell.” Despite the fact he used his nickname for her, Jesse didn’t sound happy. Anna’s body tensed as she turned to him. “I’ve got some bad news.”

Her eyes widened as she saw the look on his face. “What is it?”

“Mike won’t be able to make it.”

“What?” Anna snapped.

“He’s sick. He’s been puking all day. We didn’t want to say anything until we were sure he wouldn’t be able to make it, but he just went and doped himself up on cold medication.”

Anna groaned. What were they going to do? “Great,” she muttered. They’d have to cancel it. There was no other option for them. Anna ran her fingers through her hair. I’ve got to find someone who can replace him. Maybe someone I know…. No, she’d know if there was someone. Anyways, they’d have to learn all the songs for the set list.

It just wouldn’t work.

Anna blew out a deep breath. She could feel the stress inching to every part of her body, her muscles tensing.

“Who’s Mike?”

She’d totally forgotten that Adam was there. She took a deep breath, trying not to sound too disappointed. “He’s our bassist. And if he’s sick then there is no way we can play tonight.”

“You know…” Adam grinned widely. “I do happen to play bass.”

Jesse stared at him with wide eyes. “You do? Well, could you—”

“No,” Anna cut him off. “He can’t. He’s playing with his own band tonight. Hooch in Hades, was it?”

“Oh, I’ve heard of them.” Jesse mulled it over. “Donna’s kid is a big fan of them.”

“What time are you playing?”

“Nine,” Jesse answered before Anna could.

Adam bit his lip, a movement that sent a shiver down Anna’s spine.

“And you’re on for an hour?”

“Yes.”

“I’d need a ride right to the venue, but I could probably do it.”