Don't forget to Tag and other key words

Don’t forget the TAG.

The other day I came across a wonderful article http://www.examiner.com/writing-careers-in-seattle/categories-key-words-and-tags-oh-my-why-should-an-author-care about the usage of tagging for our books and more importantly, our ebooks.

This information comes at a good time for me because Night Bird is scheduled to release soon. Shopping in the Kindle store or on a Nook isn’t the same as perusing a stunning array of books in a store where you could it pick up and skim through to see if you were interested. Obviously the trick to selling an ebook is guiding potential readers to your novel. How else are they going to find you?
When using an electronic reading device, you’re probably searching for a certain author name you’ve typed in, or you followed the suggestions that appear from previous purchases that send you on your way. Tagging cuts the search into smaller, doable chunks.

Like: *taken from above article:
Fiction [324,671]
Fiction–Mystery&Thriller [43,629]
Fiction—Mystery&Thriller—Mystery [9,700]
Fiction—Mystery&Thriller—Mystery—Historical [73]


Okay, so I would tag Night Bird as paranormal, because I don’t want to upset or disappoint anyone when they discover my heroine is an angel and my hero is…deceased!

Another good tag word I think I might choose is redemption. I had considered faith but again, I don’t want to give the wrong category selection and end up with an unsatisfied reader.

Some other tags I might try: sea captain, whaling & sailors.

If you've got time, I highly recommend reading the article by Jennifer Conner in Seattle Writing Careers Examiner. There’s so much excellent information for a newbie like myself that I've bookmarked the story so I can absorb it in small doses. Coming up with the right tags will most likely require practice. I’m not sure if you can fine tune a tag once it’s been submitted or not. But undoubtedly it’s a very important part of marketing that needs to be learned.

And like anything else, the more we do it, the easier it will become. (I hope.)

Choosing a TBR, Keeper or Donate?

I was reorganizing my bookshelves yesterday trying to make room for the ever growing pile of TBR (to be read) books. Seriously, I have them double lined now on four separate bookselves. Since there's no room to add another book shelf, I've got some thinning out to do. I'll give the ones that I've read or for whatever reason, books I know I won't be reading, to my fantastic sister-in-law in an effort to make room on the shelves for more. And with our chapter retreat (Mid-Michigan RWA writers retreat) in April, I know I'll end up with several bags, baskets and arms full of juicy stories to cart home.

Back at the shelf. So far I have a nice, tidy pile. Small, and well...embarassing. I mean, come on. There's got to several hundred books up there! And the pitiful few books on the floor won't even fill one bag. I sigh heavily and pull down a couple more, then add to the stack without reading the backcover blurb, because if I did that....

I am not stingy. Honest. But somewhere in the back of my mind is a vision. Call it a premonition, but I catch myself dreaming of the day when I've got nothing to do except put my feet up, select a glossy dark chocolate from the box nearby and read uninterrupted for hours. My housekeeper will vacum around me and dear hubby will come home after working overtime with a stack of movies he plans to watch all evening while I read. Oh, and there'll also be chinese take out for dinner.

Hoo-Ra!!

Double-Bubble! Did you hear the pop? As in wishfully dreaming. Those days aren't here yet. But there's always the chance I mght fall and break a leg or something. Suppose I were forced to convalesce on the sofa for days? I'd need all those books to get me though it, right?

Oh, boy! That would never happen. The laid up part. There's no way DH would hear of it. Handy Andy would be out in the garage so fast I'd get whiplash, rigging up some kind of splint or automatic prop. Hopefully using the endless amount of foam rubber he aquired from his bro's trailer factory days. : )

But that's a different blog story. So...back to the books.

How to do decide what to give away and what to keep?

Knock me over with a feather!

In my opinion writers are a very special kind of people. We feel things...literally with all of the senses. Writers are always thinking of others (we refer to them as characters) and deeply appreciate the kind gestures, encouragment and help we recieve from other writer friends.

I've been so lucky to have met and critiqued with Christine Warner, a super sweet lady who fast became a supporter and cheerleader to me. Yesterday she presented me with the Liebster Blog Award to proudly display on my blog.
Thank you so much Christine!

All that's required to accept this award is:
Thank the person who gave it to them and link back to that person's blog.
Copy and paste the award to your blog.
Choose 5 blogs to award in kind and break the news by commenting on those blogs.
Hope those people pay it forward in turn by accepting and awarding "The Liebster Blog Award" to blogs they'd like to honor.

Pretty easy to do, pretty amazing to award.

My chosen five are:
Diane Burton
Margo Hoornstra
Dawn Brown
Patrica Kiyono
Loralee Lilabridge