Blog

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As a curious observer of life, I blog on writing, marketing, my prairie - anything that interests me in the moment. I like to have conversations with readers, so don’t hesitate to leave a comment. I'll respond.

Does paying for book promotion pay off?

By Carol / 16 December 2014 /

As an indie author, I’ve looked at paid book promotions from time to time and always backed away. There were so many questions for which I had no solid answers. Which promotion site? What guarantee…

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Book awards – Worth it or not?

By Carol / 09 December 2014 /

Tis the season – not only the holiday season, but the book award season. Readers’ Favorite and Writer’s Digest, to name just two, announced winners in recent weeks. And with those announcements, author hopes are…

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Readers vote authors out of publishing slush pile

By Carol / 02 December 2014 /

Authors look for ways to get their writing noticed. Publishers search slush piles for the next hot author. Author Annamaria Bazzi alerted me to Kindle Scout, a new program from Amazon that could help both…

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Book marketing – It's not always about sales

By Carol / 28 October 2014 /

Author Larry Baker (The Flamingo Rising, A Good Man and others) posted this picture to his Facebook page this week, and I laughed. It captures a fear most authors harbor: ‘What if nobody comes?’ It’s…

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The big questions: Memoir or fiction? Is the Past ever Past?

By Carol / 15 October 2014 /

Life is full of so many questions. What’s for dinner? White wine or red? Is it time to turn on the furnace? The writing life is no different. Three events coming up in the next…

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A few of my favorite blogs – One Lovely Blog Award

By Carol / 30 September 2014 /

When I began blogging in 2009, I posted my writing for a full year before telling anyone I was doing it. I was trying out my voice, learning the “rules” of blogging, and seeing if…

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Five strategies for getting book reviews

By Carol / 08 September 2014 /

Getting book reviews that would be posted on Amazon and Goodreads at launch was one of the marketing strategies I pursued prior to publishing my novel Go Away Home. In April, I blogged my intent. Now,…

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The value of a blog tour?

By Carol / 29 July 2014 /

While I was running fast on the ground to launch my historical novel Go Away Home in Iowa, I was also zipping through cyberspace on a virtual book tour that included 15 blog visits. In…

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Feeling the love – Making the most of local book launch events

By Carol / 24 July 2014 /

As I prepared for the launch of my historical novel Go Away Home, I wondered how much the world had changed. Since publishing my memoir as a paperback in 2008, ebooks have proliferated, social media connects…

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What is Go Away Home about? Readers weigh in.

By Carol / 16 July 2014 /

One of my college professors spent much of a semester dissecting T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Love-Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” I must admit, I left the classroom on most days shaking my head in dismay.…

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