Meredith's Monday Musings: Marketing for an author is hard!

Hey Everyone!

Happy Monday! How’s your week going so far? Mine is going fairly well, especially for a Monday. :-)

Today’s Meredith’s Monday Musing post is: Marketing for an author is hard!

When I first became an author, I thought all I’d have to do would be write, edit, and publish. That’s it. But, the past three years have showed me, that isn’t the case. 

A huge part about being an author is marketing one’s self. This can be really tricky, especially since it seems every six months there’s a new thing that a person has to do to make their books successful. When I started out, it was blog hops. That was by far the best way to sell books. An author could share a little snippet of their story and if readers liked it, they’d buy it. Today, it appears that sending out a newsletter to your readers is the way to go.

I really enjoy putting out a monthly newsletter to my readers. I can include whatever I want in it. I can share a snippet of my latest story, give them a kinky puzzle to solve, interview a fellow author, etc. The newsletter is customized to my liking. Plus, only people who enjoy my books will receive it. I don’t have to worry about someone bashing the type of stuff I write because they accidentally stumbled upon it.

The biggest hurdle with having your own newsletter though is getting folks to sign up for it. I’ve found that adding a sign up list for your newsletter at the end of each of my books helps. This way, if readers really enjoyed my story after finishing it, they can sign up to be alerted when another one is coming out. Another tactic that has helped get people to sign up for my newsletter is to host a multi-author giveaway. This is where multiple authors get together and each give away a copy of one of their books. In exchange for receiving a free copy of the author’s book, readers sign up for that author’s newsletter. It’s pretty nice and definitely a “win-win” situation for both author and reader. It’s great to do a multi-author giveaway, so that many people are promoting the giveaway, in hopes that it reaches more people and becomes more successful. Plus, not all the responsibility is put onto one person to promote the giveaway.

Along with newsletters, it seems that Facebook ads are another great way to sell books today. When I first heard this, I thought it’d be super easy for me to set one up. Wrong!! Facebook wouldn’t be Facebook unless it made everything super challenging. With these ads, your picture better be respectable looking and it can’t have too many words. This can be super frustrating because how are new readers supposed to know what the ad is about if you can’t really explain it to them?

Furthermore, the price for the ads can really add up! So, an author gets to decide how much they want to spend on their ad. For instance, on the last one I did, I spent twenty dollars. My ad ran for about two days. It ended up reaching quite a few people, but having an ad up for only two days didn’t help me as much as I wanted it to. I could have chosen to spend more money on it and Facebook would have kept it running, but I didn’t want to at the time.

This leads me to another point. In order to market one’s self as an author, more than likely you’ll have to spend some money. The amount is up to each person. I’ve heard some authors say that they won’t spend any money on their marketing, while some other authors I know have spent over two thousand dollars in a month to market themselves. It’s a bit crazy to think about an author spending two thousand dollar in one month on marketing, but if an author really wants to succeed, they’ll have to spend some dough. The more money that one does spend on marketing, the more of a “virtual presence” they’ll have. Thus, more people will see them online and check out their books, making them more successful.

Besides Facebook ads, authors can choose to spend money on creating promos for their books, paying the newsletter website to allow them to send out their newsletter through it, or if an author participates in a Facebook party, they’ll more than likely need to buy some presents for it. No reader likes an author that comes to a party without some presents to give out. These are only a couple suggestions. There are plenty of others ways that authors can spend money to promote themselves.

One of the last things that makes marketing for an author so hard is the amount of time one has to put into it. Sure, someone could go on Facebook, toss up a few promos for their latest release and call it a day. But, they probably won’t be as successful as the author who spends two hours of their day connecting with readers via Facebook or other social media platforms. This also doesn’t include the time it takes if an author chooses to write up their newsletter, create promos for their books, participate in Facebook parties, etc. It’s crazy how much time one could spend promoting their book.

Now do y’all see why I think marketing is so hard for authors? It ends up taking a lot of time, money, and hard work! Plus, when an author is marketing, they aren’t writing. But, if an author doesn’t market, then there books won’t do as well. So, it’s kinda a tough situation to navigate. Authors need to find the balance between marketing and writing. All I can say to any author reading this is good luck! It takes a lot to figure out the right marketing strategy, but once you do, you’ll be a huge success!

That’s all I got for today. Happy Monday, everyone! 

His to Ride

Hi Everyone!

Today, I have the lovely Ava Sinclair visiting my blog with a snippet from her latest book, His to Ride. Enjoy!

“Look, Cole,” I say with a sigh. “I know it hurt your male ego when I told you I wasn’t interested after our first time. But we don’t have to do this. If this is a matter of reputation, I’ll go back and tell everybody how good it was, how much I loved it. Hell, I’ll even tell them that you dumped me this time. That way we both get what we want.”

“You don’t know a thing about what I want.” Cole walks over from where he’s just put the chain in the door lock. He removes his cowboy hat, revealing a shock of unruly sandy hair that I know is softer than it looks. His eyes, light grey in his tanned face, are intense. “And this doesn’t have a goddamn thing to do with my reputation. This is about me. And you.”
“Based on what?” I take a step back. “Teenage flirtation? A one-night stand?”

“Don’t play stupid,” he says. “You know I’ve always wanted you.”

“Yeah,” I reply. “And you had me, remember? And you found out that I was right all along when I said it wouldn’t work.” I swallow a lump forming in my throat. “Our first night here just proved it.”

“Bullshit. It confirmed that it can,” he said. “We were perfect together. You just got scared and bolted.”

“I’m not having this conversation,” I say, and move to push past him, but he catches my upper arm.

“Let me go, Cole,” I hiss. “Another night together won’t prove a thing.”

“I know,” he says. “That’s why I’m raising the stakes of our little wager. Wanna go all or nothing?”

Another chance? My heart quickens. There’s no way Cole could get a lucky hand twice. I can’t suppress a smile at my good fortune.

“Hell yeah,” I say. “Just deal the cards.”

“No. Not cards.” He steps forward and pulls me to him. Then, without asking, he starts to unbutton my shirt and I’m so shocked I don’t even stop him. His eyes are locked on mine as he continues. “That card game was for a ride,” he said. “And I’m getting one.”


The shirt is off now and he reaches back and unclasps my bra. My breasts tumble free and leads me to the bed, then spins me around so that the backs of my legs are to the mattress. He reaches for the button of my jeans. My hands go to his, but he’s not stopping. The jeans and panties are jerked down and he pushes me backwards. I fall back in shock, staring up at him as he leans down to pull off my left boot, then the right. My jeans follow and here I am, buck naked in the Silver Spur Hotel.

“How is that a wager?” I finally find my voice as he flips me over. Behind me I hear the jangle of his buckle as he undoes his belt. The blanket underneath me is scratchy against my hardening nipples, and I feel the stirrings of a persistent, soft throb of want in my disloyal pussy.

I glance back. He’s pulled his jeans and briefs down to mid-thigh. His cock, smooth and long and mapped with raised veins, is rock-hard and ram-rod straight. He grabs my hips and pulls me to all fours.

“An eight second ride,” he said. “I stay in for eight seconds, and you spend the week with me doing whatever the fuck I want, however the fuck I want it. Get me out of you, and I’ll tell everybody you were the one who got away.”

Buy Link

Amazon

His to Ride Blurb
I hate Cole Patterson.
He's arrogant, rich, and now that he's turned pro as a bronc rider, the locals think he's a god. He's built like one, too, and the one night stand we had was hot as hell. But I dumped him, because I've got a long list of reasons why I can't be with Cole.
Only he's not taking no for an answer.
He's back in town, and pestering me for a second chance. When he taunts me into playing Texas Hold Em, I expect to win. I"m lucky at cards, and Cole promises to leave me alone if I win. But if I lose, he gets another ride.
I didn't expect him to win. But he does, and now I know I'm screwed. Literally. Cole aims to break me in his way, and if he can't have me, he's going to ruin me for any other man.
What the hell have I done?

Thanks for visiting, Ava! 

Have a great day, everyone!

Meredith's Monday Musings: Flowers!

Hi Everyone!

Happy Monday! How are y’all’s week going so far? I’ll admit, the last few days for me have been pretty rough. But, today is the start to a brand new week and I intend to make it a happy one! :-) 

Today’s Meredith’s Monday Musing post is all about: Flowers!

I love flowers. They’re so pretty and they smell good. Getting to walk around my garden or any garden for that matter is always a fun experience for me. I hardly have a clue of the names of the flowers, but they’re still fun to look at. 

Every week, I buy myself a bouquet of flowers to put on my writing desk. I think that’s one of the reasons why my stories always turn out so sweet. ;-) 

Here are a few pictures of some of my favorite flowers!

That’s all I have for today. 

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Meredith's Monday Musings: Instafreebie Giveaway!

Hi Everyone!

Happy Monday! I hope that everyone is having a great start to this new week. If you aren’t, I have something that I think will help brighten your today!

Today’s Meredith’s Monday Musing topic is: The Erotic Authors Instafreebie Giveaway!

Over two dozen of your favorite erotic authors got together and decided to throw a huge giveaway! Thanks to the wonderful program called Instafreebie, readers can go to this website: https://christinamandara.wixsite.com/website-1 click on any of the author’s names that they like, enter their email, then receive a free copy of the book that particular author is giving away. 

It’s pretty awesome, right? A reader could leave that website with over two dozen new erotic books to read!

Another cool factor for this giveaway for the authors is that when a reader agrees to give their email in exchange for the author’s book, that reader will be signed up to that author’s newsletter mail list! So, if you fall in love with an author’s writing style, you’ll never miss out on another one of their stories. 

There’s only one important thing for y’all to know. The giveaway ends on August-12th!

I’m so excited about this, I’m going to go and get some free books for myself right now!

Happy Monday, Everyone! 

Meredith's Monday Musings: Repetitive Words

Hi Guys and Gals! 

Happy Monday and Happy Birthday to Harry Potter! ;-) I’ll always be a fan of Harry’s. Anywho, how are y’all doing? Hopefully, good! 

Today’s Meredith’s Monday Musing post is all about: repetitive words!

As an author, one of the biggest killers to our stories is when we overuse certain words. For instance, I’ve been told by my beta reader that I use the words: ‘that’, ‘quick’, and ‘just’ too much. When she first told me this, I thought that couldn’t be true. How many times could a person use the word quick in a story? It isn’t that common of a word. When I searched it, I was shocked to see that I had used the word quick way too much!

Since then, I have tried to make much more of conscious effort to not repeat certain words. Of course, an author can edit their stories a million times and there will always be one or two mistakes that they’ve missed. 

The only downside to learning about repetitive words is when I’m reading other authors’ stories now, I find myself noticing if they overuse a certain word. I hate when I do this because I get pulled out of the story. I haven’t found a way to stop this from happening, but I’m really hoping that I do soon. I don’t like to be disrupted while I’m reading. 

As readers or fellow authors, do any of you ever notice when an author overuses a certain word or phrase? 

That’s all I have for now. Happy Monday!

"Your first taste of her we'll savor together." Maddie Taylor is visiting today!

Hi Everyone!

Maddie Taylor is visiting me today with a snippet from her new book, The Renegades' Reward! It's an awesome, steamy hot book! If you haven't picked up your copy yet, do it now. You really won't regret it. On to the snippet now!

Malik’s words fanned over heated skin, as he breathed out, “She’s soaked, Jay.”
“I know,” he growled. “I’m surrounded by her scent, and it’s all I can do not to toss her on the bed, spread her wide, and devour every creamy, delicious inch of her.”
“Sorry, but you’ll have to remove me bodily from this spot first,” he countered.
Before she could think, which was near impossible with these two big, powerful men focused on her, large hands at the back of both knees lifted her legs. She glanced down and saw golden eyes, molten with desire had homed in on her splayed sex. It was Malik’s hands holding her legs apart, the same ones who now draped them one at a time over his broad shoulders. With his mouth so near her center, his hot breath rushing over her hotter flesh, she trembled in anticipation of his next move.
“Stop!” came the growled command by her ear.
Malik’s face tipped up, his gaze travelling up her body to fixate over her shoulder. Following where he looked, Dani twisted her head until her eyes collided with Jaylin’s. He stared back at her as his hand slid down her front, two fingers sliding through her soaked slit to her entrance, and glided inside her.
On a quick rush of indrawn air, she somehow stifled the groan of pleasure his possessive motion aroused in her. It was as though he—no, they—had every right to play, command, and dominate her body. This notion roused her most of all. She’d asked for this two-on-one, and her willingness gave them rights they were ready to claim, both, at once. Her heart pounded and her back arched within their hold, ready for them to get on with it.
The fingers stretching and filling her stroked once, twice, pumped for a third time then left her. Her cry of disappointment was replaced by one of shock, as Jaylin’s fingertips, glistening wet with the proof of her desire rose to her mouth. Next, in a move so erotic she almost came on the spot, he ran the wet tips over her lips, painting them with her taste and scent.
He growled again, still scary, but not from dominant orders, rather, because the hungry look on his face said he intended to feast on her whole. Except he didn’t, not yet, instead saying to Malik, who watched with fervent desire on his face, “Your first taste of her we’ll savor together.”

Buy Link
Amazon

The Renegades' Reward Blurb
Devastated by tragedy, they left everything behind.
Now, they will fight any foe, take any risk, for a price.

Hired to rescue a rich man’s daughter, mercenaries Jaylin and Malik Sin-Naysir, are captivated by the auburn haired, green-eyed innocent they are duty-bound to protect. Although determined to bring her home untouched, their desire for her is intense, the connection undeniable. Could it be she has the power to heal their wounded hearts?

Daniella Alltryp lives in the lap of luxury, but under the thumb of her dictatorial father her life is a cold, isolated existence. That ends in two weeks when she turns twenty-five and gains control of her trust fund. She’s counting the minutes until she’s free!

Her father has other plans, including an arranged marriage to an alien prince, using her to further line his pockets. Daniella will have none of it.  While returning home to confront him, she is captured by space pirates and held for ransom.  Except time has run out, and her tight-fisted father refuses to pay.  Moments from being sold at auction, rescue comes in the form of two gorgeous aliens.

Tall, powerful, and innately dominant, both men make her heart melt and her panties damp.  Neither has trouble demanding what they want from her, or holding her bare backside accountable for any mischief she makes.  But they aren’t what they seem. Secrets are revealed as their deception unravels.   Can Dani forgive their betrayal and take a chance on loving them both?   And, can Malik and Jaylin move on from the tragedy in their past to finally claim their reward, and make Dani their own?

Publisher note:   The Renegades’ Reward is a stand-alone erotic romance novel that contains sexual scenes and spanking. If this subject matter offends you, please don't buy this book.

Thanks for visiting, Maddie!

Have a great day, everyone!

Happy Three Year Authorversary!

Hi Everyone!

I’m doing a special blog post today because it’s my three year authorversary! Three years ago today, I woke up to see my first book, Little Samantha’s Choice published on Amazon. I can’t believe it’s been this long. Heck, I still can’t believe that I’m an author. No matter how many books I publish, I’m still shocked that people want to read MY stories. I wonder if that feeling will ever go away? I kind of hope it doesn’t. I think it keeps authors humble. 

I’d like to give a shout out to Stormy Night Publications for publishing my first story. Looking back at the original story I submitted to you has me covering my eyes in embarrassment. It was awful, but somehow, they saw the awesomeness of it and gave me a chance. So, thank you. :-) 

I’d also like to give a shout out to our author community. I absolutely love how supportive, encouraging, and happy for each other we all are. Seriously. I would have had to given up being an author on like day one if I didn’t have the support and encouragement that I receive on a daily basis from our community. It always makes me so touched when I know that I can go to any author and they’ll be willing to help me out with something I don’t understand or encourage me to keep going when I’m having a difficult time. It’s awesome! This community is what really makes being an author so much fun! :-) 

Of course, a huge shout out to my readers! None of this would be possible without y’all! <3 

Since it’s been three years since my first story came out, I thought I would share three pieces of advice that I’ve learned. 

The first (and most important, in my opinion) is: you are your only competition. It makes me so upset when I hear about authors fighting because one person’s book did better than the other one’s. Or, when I hear that one author is jealous of another author for the same reason as above. Each of us has our own strengths and weaknesses. Our writing styles are all very different, even though we write in the same genre. We all have different likes and dislikes when it comes to kinks. So, for an author to compare themselves to another author is like trying to compare an apple to an orange. Sure, they’re both fruits, but that’s the extent of it. So authors, don’t waste your time looking at how another author is doing and feel bad because your book doesn’t do as well. Just focus on your writing and keep at it because with each book you put out, the better author you’ll become. 

The second piece of advice is: don’t let bad reviews or pirated books upset you. This is kind of a two parter. No matter what, every author is going to get a bad review on their books. Lets be honest, bad reviews suck! As writers, we put so much time and effort into our stories, getting any criticism on them can be super tough. The thing to remember is everyone gets bad reviews, so it’s not like you’re alone in this. After you settle from getting the 1-2star rating, go back and read what the reviewer wrote. Most likely, you could learn something from it and better your writing for it! If the review is simply something like, “Gross” or “Eww” then no, obviously you can’t learn anything from that. But, if the reviewer took time to write down why they didn’t like your story and what you could have done differently, I’d consider remembering that for future books. 

When it comes to pirated books, there’s nothing good about them. They’re lost royalties to authors. However, there are a few things to remember about them. More than likely, the people who read pirated books, weren’t going to be paying for our books on Amazon or another website in the first place. I’m not excusing these people for their actions, but it’s something to remember. Secondly, pirated websites are filled with horrible viruses and malware, so people *might* be getting a free copy of one of our stories (most times, websites that pirate books, don’t actually have our books. It may look like they do, but they don’t), but they’re also likely to be getting a nasty virus with it. Lastly, an author can spend an entire day combing through the Internet and getting one hundred websites to remove their pirated books, but the next day, I bet one hundred different websites will be pirating your book. Unfortunately, this is another reality that authors have to face. Our books are going to be pirated and instead of fighting the websites, it’s best to just ignore them and continue to write. 

My last piece of advice is: never give up on your writing career. I know, circumstances come along and they can make it very hard for authors to write. For instance, if your family is low on money and you’re working a twelve-hour day, then have to come home to your kids and husband; it’d be a bit hard to write then. Or, if you’re going to school full time and can only write five hundred words a week, that’s perfectly fine! It’s okay to write slowly or even take a break from writing to take care of more important matters. A time will come when things settle down and you’ll be able to devote more time to writing. No matter what, while you’re waiting for that time to come, don’t give up on your dream! When the time comes and you can write as much as you want, you’ll be grateful that you didn’t walk away! 

Those are my three pieces of wisdom! Well, really four pieces. The second point was a twofer. This is why I write, I’m horrible at math. I can’t even count correctly. ;-) 

Thank you all again for making these past three years incredible! I truly wouldn’t be here without my readers, the encouragement, support, and positive vibes from our author community and my publisher, Stormy Night Publications. :-) Here’s to another year of fun! <3 

Meredith's Monday Musings: Cooking

Hey Everyone!

Happy Monday! How’s everyone’s week going so far? Mine is pretty good. I’ve been very busy writing lately. :-) 

Today’s Meredith’s Monday Musing is all about: Cooking!

Who here loves to cook? I definitely do! There is just something so fun about getting to start off with several ingredients, putting them all together, stirring them, and then get a delicious final product! Also, the smells of that final product can be mouth watering…literally. I cannot tell you all how many times I’ve made banana bread and as it’s baking in the oven, I’m watching it with my mouth pooling with saliva. 

Besides the fact that cooking turns me into a salivating mess, I love the feeling of accomplishment I get from doing it. I have a sister who cannot cook to save her life. I’m not joking, she can’t even make toast. So, getting to cook and knowing that I have a skill that not everyone has, it does make me feel proud. It makes me feel even more proud when I can share the food I make with others and know that they’re enjoying it too. If you ask anyone, there’s a very good chance that I’ll send you cookies if I find out what your favorite cookie is. 

There’s another part that I love about cooking too, that I doubt many people share with me…doing the dishes afterwards. I know, I’m weird. However, I enjoy doing dishes and when one loves to cook, there are always ample amounts of dishes to do. I find getting to stand by the sink washing away the crumbs and oils from the pans relaxing. It’s a great time to zone out and relax. 

That’s all I have for now. Happy Monday, everyone!