I'd like to give a warm welcome to today's Indie Fall Fest author, Ann Everett!
Don't forget to drop by the kick-off post and enter the huge giveaway!
Over on Kira Adams' blog today, she's hosting K.G. McAbee!
Transformation
I changed this answer five times! It’s a challenge to reduce 70,000 words into one. I’m sure the story will have different meanings to other readers, but transformation best describes what the story means to me, much like the characters in Jerry Maguire, which is one of my favorite movies.
2. What’s your biggest inspiration?
The need to create. Be it a painting project, a decorating project, or a story I want/need to tell. I’m not the type person to sit still and watch TV. I pretty much multi-task all the time. It’s a curse.
3. If you could be best friends with any author, who’d you pick for your new BFF?
Jennifer Crusie…hands down. She’s my favorite author. I love every word she writes.
4. You get to have dinner with one character from any of yours books. Who would you pick to have dinner with?
This is a hard one because my characters are all so real to me and when I’m working on a story, I have them in head pretty much 24/7. I always hate getting to the end of the book because I know I will be telling them goodbye and moving on. For weeks after I finish a book, I wonder what they’re all doing! How crazy is that?!
I suppose I’d have to choose the dad in any story I write, because they are all based on my daddy and to have him back for just a little while would be the best thing in the world.
5. Dog-eared pages or bookmarks?
Done both, but usually bookmarks.
6. What’s next for you? Any upcoming releases we should be looking out for?
I’m over 30,000 words into my next story which is a romantic comedy. It revolves around a thirty-five year old single woman who wants to be married and have a baby before she turns the big 4-0…and the desperate measures she’s willing to take in order to make that happen! Hopefully, it will be out in the spring…fingers crossed.
Genres: Humor, Romantic Suspense
Texas Ranger Ridge Cooper has investigated some oddAnn Everett has a remarkable wit that made Tied with a Bow and No Place to Go a humorous and delightful read! Her writing instantly reminded me of Charlaine Harris'. Everyone that knows me, knows that I simply adore Charlaine's writing style. So right from the beginning, I knew I'd love Ann's story. And that I did!
cases during his career, but when local chicken farmer,
Jay Roy Hobbs, is found dead, wearing nothing but boots and a bow, it becomes the strangest one yet. On the positive side, the lawman won’t lack for suspects. Turns out the victim got up close and personal with most of the girls in his graduating class and they’re in town for a reunion. All Ridge has to do is tolerate a talking parrot and consult a color wheel as he tries to determine if the culprit is one of Jay Roy’s three ex-wives or a high school conquest.
While her husband looks into his latest murder case, Tizzy Cooper has problems of her own. She’s joined forces with first cousin and local PI, Jinx Monroe, to follow a possible cheating husband, confront their Nana about baking Boom Brownies, and drench-a-wench at the local Renaissance Faire.
Her characters really stand out. They were all an enjoyable bunch that left me laughing when I least expected it! There is plenty of mystery and intrigue as the story unfolds, and I really felt like it was perfectly balanced by the wit. All of the story blends together in a cohesive way that makes it a true delight to read and get lost in. Texan influence is definitely found in Tied with a Bow and No Place to Go. If you love some humor to go with your mystery and have a thing for deep southern drawls, look no further!
**I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review with no compensation.
MARKETING MOJO
by Ann Everett
You’ve probably heard that marketing begins…or should begin before you publish. Well, that’s true. So, before you hit that publishing button, here are eight marketing ideas that will get your book off and running.- Plan a cover reveal with a blog company. This will create some buzz about your book before it comes out. This can be done about a month before release. Average cost runs about $30-$40.
- Join a review group on Goodreads. I used Read4Review, but there are others to choose from. You post an announcement that you’ll furnish digital ARC’s** (Advanced Reading Copies) for honest reviews. I did this with TELL ME A SECRET, and got about a dozen takers. On the day of release, the book had 15 reviews posted on Goodreads. Some of those readers will also post on Amazon, especially if you request it in your announcement. **When getting your book formatted, use someone who can furnish you with ePub, mobi, and pdf files, along with a print file. Those digital files will help you promote your book, because you can send them electronically for no cost.
- Do a Goodreads Give Away. Take into consideration, Goodreads only accepts print copies for giveaways, and to mail a book out of the country will cost between $20-$50 dollars EACH book, so be sure and specify the give-away is for US only, unless you’re willing to spend the extra money. You will generally get reviews from the winners, so the more books you give, the more reviews. I gave away 5 books, but you can give as few as ONE.
- Do a web search and find bloggers who read and review your genre. Query them and request a review of your book. Most will have forms on their sites for your submission. Keep in mind, you may not hear from these submissions for months…but eventually some blogger just might review and make you an overnight success…like Colleen Hoover and Molly McAdams!!
- Schedule a release day event. I did a release day review blitz, where I furnished ARC’s to any blogger who signed up with the tour company to read and review my book and feature the release day announcement on their blog. I had 12 bloggers take part. This will also help increase your Facebook and Twitter followers. My accounts grew by about 300 in four days following my review blitz. Cost for this can run from about $40 and up depending on what you want.
- Have a countdown to release day on your Facebook page and Twitter account. Post a picture with a short excerpt from your book each day for the ten days before release. There are some great sites where you can upload photos and insert text. I use PicMonkey.com. You can do some things for free and then they have an upgrade where you have access to all their features. It’s not expensive and once you look at the site and see all that you can do, you’ll know it’s well worth the price. You can make banners for your website, edit photos…take blemishes and wrinkles out, along with changing hair color, etc.
- Send out a newsletter about your release. I use a company called http://Wix.com/Shoutout They have great templates that you can customize and it’s free. You upload your email addresses and once you’re done, hit publish/send, and the newsletter goes out to all your contacts. If you have hundreds of addresses, I suggest you look into http://www.MailChimp.com/ They can send as many as 5000 emails at one time!
- Once your book is published, if you choose to run it for free or at a discounted price, for a limited time, there are tons of sites where you can advertise that promotion for free. Again, do a web search to find those. Just to name a few: freebooksy.com, choosybookworm.com, Pixelofink.com, freekindlefiction.com.
- Join HARO. Help a Reporter Out. This is a site where you might qualify as an expert in some field, which in turn will help promote you as an author and your books! They send emails three times a day with multiple listings asking for information to be included in magazines, television, radio, books, etc. You send queries. If chosen, you might end up on the Today Show! http://www.helpareporter.com/
- Run a pay with a tweet campaign. This is a free tool and is a fun way to give away a book, and it works well if you already have a few books out, especially a series, that the giveaway will feed into. http://paywithatweet.com/
An award winning author, she’s also a member of Northeast Texas Writers’ Organization and a top ten reviewer on thenextbigwriter.com When Ann’s not writing, she spends her days listening in on people’s conversations at the local Wal-Mart, beauty shop, Goodwill, and numerous other gathering spots. She draws from that research to pen her romantic suspense novels full of southern sass and Texas twang. For her new adult romance stories, she blends her dramatic writing style with a kick of humor.
Five things you won’t know about Ann by reading her bio.
1. She’s been married to the same man since dirt.
2. She loves shopping at thrift stores.
3. A really sharp pencil makes her happy.
4. She hates talking on the telephone.
5. She’s thankful wrinkles aren’t painful.
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