Oh, How I Miss You Blogfest

One of my favorite peeps of all-time, Alex J. Cavanaugh, is an instigator of yet another blogfest. This one I can handle!

Here are the bloggers I've missed lately:

Ann Parker who writes the marvelous historical mystery series set in Leadville, Colorado. The Silver Rush Mysteries blog is so... dead. Ann, where are you?

My own fault I don't visit Susan Wittig Albert's blog more. She always has interesting updates about her life in the Texas Hill Country, and what's new with her latest novels. Yes, she usually is cranking out at least three books, and the latest is a novel exploring the life of Rose Wilder Lane and her mother, Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Another fave blog I miss is Crunchy Chicken. I do stay caught up with this author on Facebook, but still... you know that good posts like the most recent one are worth it to fans, right?

Who would I miss if they disappeared? So many to choose from, but here are three:

The Little Pickle Press blog, because I helped bring it to this state of wonderfulness over the past two years. It's a blog any company can be proud of. I certainly am! If you have children who are readers, do bookmark it and visit often because they have great specials on their new releases.

I'd also miss Pat Bean's blog. Pat travels the country in her little SUV with her pal, Pepper and shares stories of her adventures. She's writing a travel memoir that I'm sure will be a bestseller some day.

Finally, a group blog because I love them. One of my faves is Jungle Red Writers because these are authors I read, they post regularly, they write really well. Oh, I'd miss them if they were gone. Please don't go away!

Okay - onward to discover more great blogs. What are your favorites - leave me a comment!

Promoting Your Blog Book Tour

The first day of a blog book tour is always a bit stressful for everyone involved, because it sets the tone for the rest of the tour. Also important is getting the word out about the blogs hosting you and this is a process that you "work" all through the day, each day of your tour. Here's the basic procedure:

1. Go to host blog and make sure the post is up
2. Get the permalink (by clicking on the blog post title to expand the URL which is
the unique URL for just that post), then make a shortened link if you are set up
to do that (I use bit.ly)
3. Leave a comment on the blog
4. Post the permalink or bit.ly to your Facebook page and post a status update explaining a little about the tour stop
5. Share the link with your online groups and mailing lists (no reason your
friends and family can't help, right?)
6. Use the bit.ly on Twitter throughout the day
7. Share on Pinterest if you are set up over there
8. Promote all through the day and be certain to drop in on your host blog for the day and check the comments - then join in the conversation. You should be addressing the questions and comments throughout the day as any good host would

Today, Little Pickle Press kicks off a blog book tour for their new picture book, Ripple's Effect. Here's a link to the first host:


http://bit.ly/U49qE9

You can follow the tour for the next two weeks. The entire schedule is here.



If you have questions or comments, please share them here!

A BIG Blog Book Tour

Today we kick off a blog book tour for Little Pickle Press. Their newest title, BIG, by Coleen Paratore is a colorful children's book that encourages children to think big in ways that go beyond size and stuff. It's a pretty powerful message for adults, too! Go here to read an interview with the woman who creates the free lesson plans to go along with the picture books.

If you're wondering what a blog book tour is all about, the best way to learn is to follow along on one. Here's the entire schedule for the BIG tour.

Hot blog book tour tip of the day: Be sure to change your daily blog URL to that post's permalink so you always have the exact link to the blog book tour stop.

More Numbers To Consider

Originally published on 11/6/2009

One of the most important statistics on your blog book tour are those of your once-and-future blog hosts. You want hosts that get at a bare minimum, 100 or more hits per day. To some of you, this sounds like a paltry number because your own blog may get thousands of visitors each day. But more of you probably don't get anywhere near that many on your own blogs, and building the blog that does seems like an insurmountable challenge. But you must, because this will help you find and choose blogs at least as good as your own.

In the blog book tours classes, we experience great resistance to this concept of finding high-traffic blog hosts. Some people even get downright ornery about the idea, and insist that any blog is good enough, and it's just too much work to vet them for popularity.

Those people should simply pay large sums of money to a tour service to plan an impersonal tour for them. Why? Because it's simply too much work to put into a tour that no one will see if you insist on any old blog. Let's think this out.

You can expect to spend 40-60 hours planning a blog book tour of 10-15 stops. A good portion of that time - up to half - is spent crafting your tour stops and doing the actual writing of the blog posts that your hosts will enter on their blogs. You can plan on spending 2-4 hours for each stop, so why would you spend that precious time on a blog that gets 2-3 visitors a day? It makes no sense to gamble that those people will buy your book. Aunt Mabel and many well-meaning friends will offer their services, and by all means humor them if you must. Just don't count them as part of your professional tour of 10-15 really good blog hosts.

Work hard on your blog book tour, but also work smart. That means maximizing the hours you spend preparing a good tour for your very popular hosts.

To rank the blogs your are considering, click here. Contact blogs with a rating of 2-5. Few blogs will rank higher than that.

Free on July 21, 2012

We are #52 on the big Kindle Top 100 List at this very moment, and have 4,600 downloads so far during this promotion. Please help us reach #1 by sharing this link with your friends today. http://amzn.to/Cornercafe and do leave us a review on our Amazon page if you have a minute! You can also link to all our authors over there and see what other books they've written.

No need to buy Shape Magazine when you eat at the Corner Cafe - it's all calorie-free! Haha!

Welcome to The Corner Cafe Blog Book Tour!

Join us for the latest wild and crazy experiment at the BBT Café, the online social group for all the writers who have taken my blog book tours classes over the past few years! This community of about 100 authors supports each other’s writing efforts through daily social media interaction, blog book tours, and by sharing information and conversation as the publishing world changes. And, boy, is it ever changing fast!

In the past few years, the opportunities for self-publishing have burgeoned, and the stigma attached is virtually non-existent. Only an Old Publishing School dinosaur would think of self-publishing as an inferior option. Programs like Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing have leveled the playing field, and more authors are jumping into the game every day.

This fertile publishing ground is what inspired The Corner Café short story collection. We noticed that authors were starting to give away samples and old titles in e-book format, and that it resulted in increased sales on their other titles. Even a free day or two tended to increase sales when the regular price of a title came back. 

Without too much forethought about what we were stumbling into, we decided to put together a collection of our very own around a common theme: The Corner Café. The object was for readers to sample various writing styles, and tempt them to link to other works by the contributing authors. We’d promote the new project via a month-long blog book tour (what else?), and track sales each day, as well as measure download bumps the five free days allowed by the KDP Select program. (Seth Godin suggests free is a good marketing strategy in publishing. Here’s his post about it.) So we’re putting it to the test. That’s the short version of how it all came about over the past four months. You can get more gory details at the various blogs listed below throughout June.

Let me tell you a little bit about the book’s content. Here’s the description on Amazon:

Sweet, dreamy, steamy, and sometimes slightly seamy, this multi-genre collection of short stories includes something for every taste. Prepared by the BBT Café authors: Marian Allen, Shonell Bacon, Karen Casey Fitzjerrell, W.S. Gager, Helen Ginger, Dani Greer, S.B. Lerner, Audrey Lintner, Morgan Mandel, Maryann Miller, Bodie Parkhurst, Bob Sanchez, Mary Montague Sikes, Red Tash, Christine Verstraete.

These are just a few of the teasers each author submitted for their respective stories:

• In The Catfish Enchantment by Marian Allen: Cosmo’s father deserted the family and died unforgiven, his mother is sinking into depression, he’s started cutting himself to relieve the pain, and his boss suggests…a tattoo?

• In The Eyes Have It by W.S. Gager: Crimebeat reporter Mitch Malone hates going to church, but when he gets rooked into speaking to the Bible-toting ladies, he may be facing the devil himself as he investigates the prayer group's missing purses.

• In The Consequences of Breaking and Entering by Audrey Lintner, Goldilocks gets an update and her comeuppance.

• In Perfect Timing by Christine Verstraete, a rescued pup helps Corner Café owner Gina Mason find love and thwart a would-be robber.

You can also read the first two chapters using Amazon’s Look Inside feature. If it sounds like something you’d like to download to your Kindle, here’s the link to buy. Only 99 cents!

Join us during the blog book tour all month as we visit these blog hosts:

June 4 Blog Book Tours Kick-off http://bit.ly/CCBBT

June 5 Bob Sanchez with Stephen Tremp http://bit.ly/CCBS1

June 6 Red Tash interviews Dani Greer http://RedTash.com

June 7 Magic Dog Press http://bit.ly/CCMagic

June 8 Heidi Thomas http://bit.ly/CCHeidi

June 11 Marian Allen http://bit.ly/CCCosplay

June 12 W.S Gager http://wsgager.blogspot.com

June 13 Chris Verstraete http://candidcanine.blogspot.com

June 14 Helen Ginger http://straightfromhel.blogspot.com

June 15 Kathy Wheeler http://kathylwheeler.wordpress.com/

June 18 Morgan Mandel Double M http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

June 19 Pat Bean http://patbean.wordpress.com

June 20 Shonell Bacon http://chicklitgurrl.blogspot.com

June 21 Alberta Ross http://albertaross.wordpress.com

June 22 Karen Casey Fitzjerrell http://karencaseyfitzjerrell.blogspot.com

June 25 Pat Stoltey http://patriciastoltey.blogspot.com

June 26 SB Lerner http://www.susanblerner.com

June 27 Maryann Miller http://its-not-all-gravy.blogspot.com/

June 28 Mary Montague Sikes http://marymontaguesikes.blogspot.com

June 29 Stephen Tremp http://breakthroughblogs.blogspot.com

We hope you join us each day to read more about how The Corner Cafe: A Tasty Collection of Short Stories evolved. For those of you out there who know little about how a blog book tour works, a great way to get an education is to follow along on a tour. You'll get lots of ideas for your own blog book tour. Join us and do leave questions and comments here!

Monday at the Corner Cafe

Today, we're visiting Marian Allen's blog and chatting with Red Tash about Star Trek. If you're a Trekkie, do join the conversation over at our virtual Corner Cafe.

We had an active weekend of free downloads of The Corner Cafe: A Tasty Collection of Short Stories, so thanks to all who now are happily reading on their Kindles. We'd love a short review of your favorite story at our Amazon page! It's kind of thrilling to reading good reviews of the book! http://www.amzn.to/Cornercafe

It was also very cool to hit #2 on the Top 100 Free Kindle Books list. It's darn-near close to the very top. When you think about it, being the Super Bowl loser isn't such a bad thing either, is it? Leave me a comment and tell me what you think!

Corner Cafe Tour Update

It was an exciting week, with our Amazon statistics topping off at #375 and reaching #2 in the Top 100 Short Stories. The book is still free to download today (Sunday 6/10) so load up your Kindle!

We have two nice blog posts about the book today from contributing authors:

Maryann Miller highlights strong women in several of the stories. Click here to read.

Red Tash blogs about the book here. We're right across the hall from The King (see screenshot above)!

Check us out at our Amazon book page, and while you're there, poke around and get to know the authors who submitted stories to this short story collection! Happy Sunday!

Today on day # 4 of the blog book tour, author Mary Montague Sikes visits with Sherry Wachter of Magic Dog Press and they talk about how our personal experiences can evolve into a fictional short story. It's an interesting interview! Have you ever used the "what if" writing prompt in your writing? What if you hadn't found your child after she disappeared around the corner at the art museum? Every parent's nightmare!

Drop in on our pals as they discuss this at the Corner Cafe: http://bit.ly/CCMagic

Don't just eavesdrop - join the conversation!

Click here to buy a copy of The Corner Cafe: A Tasty Collection of Short Stories - It's a Kindle book for 99 cents.

Eventful Day at the Corner Cafe

A most eventful Top 100 List day on Tuesday - we managed to get to #13 on the hot new releases in short stories,and then dropped off that list. This morning we're back at #97. We're still listed in genre fiction urban life, and have moved up to #49. Maybe we need more people to click " like" on our Amazon page? http://www.amzn.to/Cornercafe

As to Amazon ranking, we moved up to #19,118 by this morning. Our benchmark on Monday morning was #100,654, so we've had some nice improvement in the first three days of the blog book tour.

While you're at the Amazon page, take the opportunity to read the first two stories with the Look Inside feature. You'll also notice that all our authors have pictures and links at the bottom of the page, and you can click over to see what else they've written.

Today, I visit Red Tash for day #3 of the blog book tour with a lengthy interview about this project and what I see coming in the publishing world. Come join the conversation and ask me some questions! Of course, you can leave comments and questions here, too.

Exciting Times at the Corner Cafe

It's day 2 of our blog book tour and we're visiting one of the Corner Cafe contributors, Bob Sanchez at his blog. Do run over and leave him a comment or question about the book. Thanks to Stephen Tremp for giving us some ideas for getting out of the comfort zone when writing. We're going to get him into the Corner Cafe project next time so we can promote his stories a bit!

Now here's some interesting information about this project. I told you part of our goal was to track statistics in this somewhat controlled group of writers. Of course, we all want to see sales, but I'm trying to ignore that for right now, except to the extent that sales relate to Amazon ranking and other statistics that indicate discovery and popularity.

We started the blog book tour on Monday morning with an Amazon ranking of 100,654 in Kindle books. This morning, our ranking is 20,344. Quite an improvement!

We got one five-star rating with a glowing review. Love these. Want more!

Most importantly, we've already hit a Kindle Bestseller List! We are #68 in Paid Genre Fiction Urban Life. Not bad for one day of social marketing.

If the book is starting to sound interesting to you, you can find it here and it's only 99 cents. Download it and see what you think. We'd love a few more good reviews from indie readers. Who knew a well-written review would bring such pleasure?

Have questions about this project - please leave them in the comments and we'll be glad to answer.

Worrying About Time

An Excerpt from Creating Time by Marney Makridakis

Try this: Imagine who you would be if you didn’t worry about time. How might your life be different? I surveyed fifty-two people, and the results revealed that 90percent felt “somewhat anxious” to “significantly anxious” about time. What’s even more startling is that these results don’t even seem all that surprising. Anxiety about time is very much a part of most of our lives. Think back to a time when you greeted a casual acquaintance and asked how he was, and he said, “Great! Things are fantastic!” It can be almost jarring when someone responds so positively. Somehow we’re more conditioned to expect to hear people complain that they are tired, or sigh that they are busy.

It’s helpful to dig deeply to figure out what is at the root of our problems with time. Why do we overschedule ourselves? Why do we want to be so busy? Why are we so consumed with time? Why does it seem so “normal” to worry about time so much? Why is it easier to be caught up in a drama about time than it is to be released from it?

In short, what is the payoff for worrying about time?

When I examine this question myself, I can recognize that the more I complain about time, the more I block my ability to accept and express love and connection. Violette Clark shared, “I suppose not having enough time, or the illusion of believing this, makes us feel important. I also realize it keeps me safe. There have been a lot of dreams that I’ve accomplished, including publishing a book, but there have been a lot of balls that I’ve dropped, too, in the name of ‘not having enough time.’ Putting myself out there more fully means more potential for rejection. Sometimes not ‘going for my dreams’ is safer.”

Similarly, artist Peggy Lynn boldly admitted that time complaints are related to ego: “The ‘I’m too busy’ implication does stroke the ego: ‘Oh, look at me — busy, busy, busy!’” A workshop participant shared that her worries about time give her an excuse and an outside source for not following her dreams. She said, “I’ve never been someone who likes to blame, but now I suddenly realize that I’ve actually been blaming time. I don’t have enough time, and so that’s why I don’t go after this dream, or that’s why I haven’t tried this or followed up on that. Then it’s not my fault. This was a big discovery for me!

  Here are some examples of payoffs that people might receive from worrying or complaining about time.

• Time is a good catchall: if I can complain about being busy, then I don’t have to look at other areas in my life.

• Worrying about time gives me something to talk about with other people.

• Worrying about time is a convenient excuse for not following my dreams.

• My schedule is wrapped up with my self-esteem. Being “too busy” means that I’m successful.

• I don’t plan things that I might enjoy because it is too scary — it just feels safer to be bored.

Do any other payoffs come to mind? Which ones resonate as possibly being true for you? For further reflection, refer to the questions in the sidebar “Exploring Your Time Anxiety.”

Once we can identify the payoffs that we get from worrying about time, we can see them for what they are: illusions that keep us from living our true potential. Simply being aware of what we are getting from our time worries allows us to make a different choice. Choice is one of the nine ARTbundance Principles, which are building blocks to self-awareness. Making new choices is one of the best ways we can explore new layers of freedom with time. Dana Sebastian-Duncan, a trainee in the ACT program, put it nicely: “When I really think of the Principle of Choice as it relates to time, it reminds me that I have the freedom to create my life and my own ‘reality.’ My daily choices add up to my life, and that is empowering.”

To learn more, please take a look at the book trailer by clicking here!
To purchase a copy for yourself, click here. 

Marney K. Makridakis is the author of Creating Time. She founded the Artella online community for creators of all kinds and the print magazine Artella. A popular speaker and workshop leader, she created the ARTbundance approach of self-discovery through art. She lives in Dallas, Texas. Visit her online at http://www.artellaland.com.

Excerpted from the book Creating Time: Using Creativity to Reinvent the Clock and Reclaim Your Life ©2012 by Marney Makridakis.  Published with permission of New World Library http://www.newworldlibrary.com

Need More Time?

Here's a teaser for our post on Thursday, when you can read an excerpt from this book.

Elements of a Good Blog

A major premise of the blog book tours course is that a good author blog is the foundation of a good blog book tour. Why? Unless the author is a dedicated blogger and has created a great blog for himself, it’s not likely he’ll be able to determine whether a blog host will be an effective tour stop. You must establish a strong comfort level and respect for blogging to engage in a solid blog book tour.

What are the elements of a good blog?

Here is the entire list which students use as a guideline to shape their own blogs:

Basic Design Attractiveness?
Title and url cohesive?
Consistency and clarity of blog purpose?
Loading speed?
Follow widget in place?
Hit counter?
Bookmarking in place?
FB and Twitter widgets?
Blogrolls?
Linking effective? Tags/keywords used?
Frequent posting 2-3 x weekly?
Quality of overall posts?
Comments section working?
Blog components arranged in optimum manner?
Too many/too few third-party gadgets?
Pages used effectively?
What's great?
What can be improved?
Is it ready for a blog tour?

Most of the criteria is self-explanatory. You might look at your own blog to determine if some tweaking would help make the blog stronger and more appealing to your readers.