Please Welcome Minnette Meador to our blog

Minnette, thank you so much for sharing with us today.

TAMING THE BLOG TOUR BEAST

PROS & CONS

BLESSINGS AND BEATINGS

I am on my second of three blog tours. They have been fun, exhausting, satisfying, time-consuming, thrilling, and otherwise one of the best things I’ve done to promote my books. Would I tell you they are easy? Absolutely not. Would I recommend them? Absolutely.

STARTING OUT…

I started out this year with a very specific goal in mind; get my name out there. It’s hard to sell your books if no one knows who you are, so the first thing I did was talk to the experts; successful writers. They were very kind to sit down with me and go over their own strategy for promotion and I came out knowing that the blog hop can be a very effective tool.

SETTING UP THE BLOG TOUR…

Since I work full time, write full time, and promote full time (or so it seems since I don’t sleep much) I decided to hire a blog tour company and chose Goddess Fish. There are others out there that are also very good, but these guys really impressed me with how fast they got back to me with proposals, the variety of their services, and the cost. They are the same ladies who bring us Long & Short Reviews and Whipped Cream Reviews. The fabulous thing about them is they put the tour together for me by recruiting the blog sites, coordinating with the blog site owners, and getting out promo for the tour. They even made banners and videos for me, which was a huge plus since I really didn’t have time to do that this year. All I had to do was get materials together for the book, the video, write the articles, and promote the tour.

ADVERTISING THE TOUR…

I only advertise on Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter (I belong to some amazing groups over at FB that are very active, i.e. they talk a lot about books, authors, and just about anything else). In addition to the Goddess Fish Blog Stops, I added some others to the tour (places like Night Owl Romance, Coffee Time, and ARe Books, and other private blogs that invited me). I put together a complete schedule with dates, times, subjects, links, and a picture of the prize for that day. Then every morning, I edit my blog post and put up what I’m doing that day. I copy this over to FB, Twitter, and an event on Goodreads that I update everyday as well. When you set up an event over at Goodreads it sends out a reminder every day for anyone who said “yes” to the invite. You can also use this tool to invite not just Goodreads, but Facebook friends, and even your own mailing list. Then, in the evening, I do a second post along with a picture of the prize. I’ve been averaging about 20-100 comments per blog stop, and an average of about 10-30 individual commenters each day. Most of them follow along on every post, which is wonderful, but I get anywhere from 1-5 new followers during the week. They come in slow, but seem to stick. Books are sold as fans are obtained; one at a time.

MAKING FRIENDS, NOT FANS…

For me this is the most important thing of all; I take the time to answer each and every comment I get on any of the blogs. These people took time from their day to talk to me and it’s important for me to acknowledge that. You’d be amazed how many comments I get that writers don’t even say hi to people who comment on their blogs. I think I’ve gotten to know these folks because I truly care about them; it’s funny, but I don’t think I’ve gained fans as much as I’ve gained friends and that’s really a lot more important to me.

PRIZES…

In my first tour I gave out larger prizes throughout the tour… no one really knew when those would be given, so it kept their interest. This time I decided to give out smaller ones every day. Honestly, I think I got more people by keeping them larger and secret, so that’s probably what I’ll do on my next one. The large prizes (except the grand prize) are $25.00 or less. The grand prizes have been $100 GC to Amazon, Kindles or Nook readers, and themed totes costing about $100 each. Keep in mind I am using the tour to get my name out there, so I decided to invest some money to do that. I also give away copies of my books, but not the current one; I want people to buy that one, so I give away copies of other books in the series, and usually as eBooks. I did give away a couple of signed paperback books, but considered this part of my big prizes since I have to pay for these as well plus postage. Some people say I shouldn’t give prizes away because it should be about the book, but again, unless they know who I am how can I get them to my site, which is the bigger question here. I need to get them there first and I think it’s worth the investment. We’ll see in the final analysis if that’s true or not. If you don’t have a lot of money to buy prizes there are other things you can do. Bookmarks, Hero Trading Cards, eBooks (PDF copies), have lunch with the author, name the next character in the author’s book, etc. I had a small contest to rename my heroine in The Gladiator Prince and it was amazing how many people entered. I try to be creative with my giveaways and make sure it means something to my readers. I asked one group what they would like as giveaways and this is what they told me: An autographed photo of me, autographed books, T-Shirts with the book cover (which can be very cheap to make), etc. For Gladiator Prince I found a place that made amazing Roman trinkets like gladius key chains, Roman coin key chains, even a full sized wooden sword, all very reasonably priced.

IS IT WORKING…

Well, I’m selling more than I did when the other books came out and it looks like I’m still selling after the tour is over. Is it a lot of books? No. But it seems with each release I sell a few more.

INDEPENDENT VS. PUBLISHING HOUSE AUTHORS…

Keep in mind I’m doing this as an independent, not as a large publishing house book, so I’m pretty sure this would work especially well for larger house published books (and I have a couple of friends who have confirmed that for me). From what I’ve seen of other tours, if you have a self-published book from .99-2.99 you’ll do okay with a tour. My books are in the 3.99-5.99 range and are a bit of a harder sell.

BOTTOM LINE…

I’m learning a lot this year about what works and doesn’t work for selling books, but have come to the realization that recognition is, in the long run, more important, especially if you’re just starting out. The more I get it out there, the more people become interested in my books. I may not have sold a ton of books, but I’ve accomplished two things, both of which were a surprise: 1) People say, “I am seeing your name everywhere!,” which is a perfect endorsement that what I’m doing might be working, and; 2) Without solicitation, I’ve managed to gather a bunch of 4.5-5 star reviews from individuals on Amazon and other sites that I hadn’t expected. And these are not review sites, but individuals, which I think goes a little further with book readers. For me, that makes it worth it and I feel like I’m starting to build momentum as a writer because of it. I may not have 1,000 fans yet, but the two hundred or so I do have tell their friends.

COME JOIN ME…

Oh, and by the way… If you’d like to see how I do it, come on over and join us! It’s an absolute blast and you’ll meet some amazing people!

Hope this helps! Love you all… Minnette :o)

ABOUT MINNETTE…

Somewhere between thirty and dust...red hair, blue eyes...six kids, one slightly used husband, and any number of pets from time to time... wanttabe hippy... wanttheirmoney yuppie...pro musician and actress for 20 years... native Oregonian... lover of music, beauty, and all things green. Willing slave to the venerable muse. Minnette currently resides in Portland, Oregon with her husband, having replaced the children with one dog. The dog, Pierre, pretty much runs the show.

MOST RECENT PUBLICATION…

THE GLADIATOR PRINCE - Excerpt
a historical romance
by Minnette Meador
Book III of the Centurion Series
RELEASE DATE: September 7, 2011
Resplendence Publishing

Prince Thane is the last surviving royalty of the Trinovantes Tribe in Roman Britannia, having surrendered to the Romans to save his two young daughters, whose identities he sacrifices his freedom to protect. He is condemned by Nero himself to become a gladiator, to fight until he dies in the arena. When his two daughters are taken in a slaver's raid, Thane escapes to find them. Phaedra holds a terrible secret that would mean the death of her younger brother. Her only hope is to force the gladiator to protect them as they flee to Rome. He reluctantly agrees. Little does he know that the beautiful Syrian woman holds not only the key to his passion, but a secret that triggers a disaster that ignites the world. Will this spoiled willful girl betray him in the end or sacrifice herself to save them all?

WHAT’S NEXT…

THE BELL STALKER - Excerpt
an urban fantasy thriller
by Minnette Meador
RELEASE DATE: October 26, 2011
Resplendence Publishing

For a year, Belle Stark has struggled to conquer fears plaguing her since being attacked by a maniac who continues to roam free and the murder of her father. And she nearly succeeds, until she discovers her lover's mutilated body spread over the furniture, making Belle a prime suspect. Certain her attacker is to blame, she seeks help from her ex-husband, homicide detective Mike Cranston, the one person she swore she would never let back into her life, or heart. In their hunt for answers, the two uncover more than a lunatic: a supernatural underworld hides beneath the tall skyscrapers of the city with a secret that could kill them both. Faced with a terrible choice, Belle surrenders herself to the hands of a monster and Mike must solve an ancient mystery before it's too late to save her---