Three Awesome Books for a teaser of Book Sale coming August 6th!

Fun, Fun, Fun!

There will be over 20! authors selling their books at the Book Extravaganza this August 6th. A wide range of genres and styles will be represented, enough for any reader to find much to read! 

Many will be on sale or offering other specials. Here's three to tease.

Register to win a FREE copy!

Finding hope in all the wrong places.

Rebecca is a well published author. In her Christian romances she demonstrates why. 

And all her titles at the book sale will be ON SALE for only $10 each! Plus you can register to win a free copy of her latest work, Winds of Change. Find out more about Rebecca and her wonderful writing at her Amazon author page.

One Brick at a Time, a heart wrenching and heart warming biography you won't want to put down.

One Brick at a Time is Elaine Oostra's life story. She shares her fond and sometimes humorous memories of childhood as well as the struggles and pain of growing up with a mom who suffered from mental illness. 

Want some fun, fast reading? Mild West Mysteries abounds in thirteen cozy mystery short stories of the West as never seen before. 

Also, I'll be running a Buy One Get One of Same or Lesser Price HALF OFF with all my four titles: Starke Naked Dead, Mild West Mysteries, The Mall Fairies: Exile and Write Short to Succeed. 

For more about me and my wacky Idaho adventures, visit my Amazon author page.

Hope to see you Saturday!

DEATH DEMYSTIFIED for the Day of the Dead Authors' Talk and Read

Come join us at the Victory Branch Library on Saturday November 1st from 1pm to 3pm for readings from Demystifying Death, a perfect way to spend a Day of the Dead, by honoring the dead!

Jane Freund of Freundship Press and the Pixie Chicks Writers' Group (of which I am one) have produced Demystifying Death, an anthology of stories about the last great secret sin of our society: death. It happens to all of us. It happens to our friends, families, and pets. We all need to talk about and share our experiences around dying. And yet, still today in America, the subject is often taboo. 

Okay, enough of a rant, and Demystifying Death, with its myriad selection of poems, essays and short stories will provide a welcome opening of death's doors. And what better way to celebrate the Day of the Dead than by sharing stories?

I will be attending and reading from my (true) short story, Traveling Together, about a beloved aunt and cat, and would love to see you too!

Booksigning, Short Story and a RECIPE

Come join Kathy McIntosh, author of Mustard's Last Stand, and me, author of Starke Naked Dead, at our book signing, Friday, March 15, from 4pm to 8pm at the Hastings at the corner of Five Mile and Overland in Boise. (There'll be cookies!)

In honor of this event, here's a short story with a couple of characters from Starke Naked Dead and then the recipe that Maddie so enjoyed--because it's delicious!

MAMA CHIN'S LIVE FOREVER CASSEROLE

Mad Maddie Starke stared down at her menu and frowned in her signature facial expression of pure fury. She stared up at Mama Chin, who's calm gaze didn't waver a micro inch. Mama Chin knew all about Maddie's blow and bluster.

            Maddie pointed at a word on the daily special on Mama Chin's Save On Café's menu. "What the heck is that?"

            "It's quinoa," Mama Chin said, resisting the overwhelming urge to sigh. She couldn't resist a shift from aching foot to aching foot. She needed new wait staff. It didn't work anymore for only her and Paul to try to run the café all on their own. Not with the ski resort successful.

"Keenwah? How do you get that from quinoa? Why isn't it qwe-noah? Like it's spelled?"

"I agree totally."

Maddie's eyebrows raised high at Mama Chin's agreeing with her, which almost never happened.

"But, we've got to update our menu to sell to our new customer base, you know, the health-nutty skiers?"

Maddie's eyebrows remained halfway up her forehead. "Do I look like a health nut?"

Mama Chin regarded her slightly overweight—plump—okay, fat friend. "Not really."

"Don't you have a real food daily special? You know, meatloaf with gravy? Chicken pot pie? Stuffed pork chops? Bacon and eggs?"

Now Mama Chin sighed. "No. You can, however, order any of those at the regular price."

Maddie reared back in her chair. "How many generations have our families known each other? Have the Starkes ever ordered off the regular menu? It's a matter of pride—"

Mama Chin leaned forward to stop Maddie's word flood. "And have any of you ever had a bad meal at the Save On Café?"

Maddie wrinkled her brow. "Well, once Great-Grandpa—"

"I can toss any customer out of here, you know."

Maddie glared. "Okay, okay, I'll have the quinoa casserole."

***

            Maddie patted her mouth and then her tummy.

            "Well, how was it?" Mama Chin asked.

            "I'm so glad I'm always open to new experiences, especially in the realm of good food." Maddie gave her mouth another prim and somehow smug pat. "And that I've decided to eat more healthy."

            Mama Chin crossed her arms over her chest. "First time for everything. So does that mean you'll tip for the first time?'

            Maddie's shocked expression was her answer. 

QUINOA EGG BAKE

Since the quinoa in this recipe gets baked in the oven, it doesn't need to be precooked. Instead, it settles into the bottom of the pan and creates the casseroles' crust.

1 teaspoon butter or margarine

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa 

8 eggs 

1 1/4 cup milk or soy, almond or coconut milk (the coconut milk is good with curry spice, instead of the other spices, for an "Indian" Egg Bake)

1 tablespoon chopped garlic 

1 teaspoon chopped thyme (optional)

1 teaspoon sage (optional)

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/2 teaspoon pepper (or more if you love pepper)

 2 cups packed baby spinach, roughly chopped (or you can use frozen spinach as well)

Or/and 2 cups of the vegetables of your choice, green beans, corn, peas, cooked carrots, or a combo all work well.

1 cup finely shredded Romano or Parmesan cheese or any hard cheese of your choice.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch x 8-inch glass or metal baking dish with butter; set aside.
Put quinoa into a fine mesh strainer and rinse until cold running water until water runs clear; drain well.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, the spices you've chosen, and quinoa. Stir in spinach or other vegetables then pour mixture into prepared dish. Cover tightly with foil then jiggle dish gently from side to side so that quinoa settles on the bottom in an even layer. Bake until just set, about 45 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle top evenly with cheese. Return to oven and bake, uncovered, until golden brown and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes more. Set aside to let cool briefly, then slice and serve.

Note: this is a forgiving recipe, but the texture will be a little too chewy if you leave out the vegetables. Try different combos of spices and see what you like the best. Me, I always splash in a little hot sauce because I love hot sauce!

The Magic Formula for a Best Seller.

This past Saturday I attended an excellent workshop by Dennis J. Smith on social media. There are new ways to self promote on the Internet every day, it seems. And since I've jumped into the eBook world with my entire cyber body and soul, with quite a bit of success, I've been following other writers' journeys and thinking about the whole "How to sell? What should I be doing to become a best seller? Do I HAVE to do every social network? Do I need to go to every conference? Do I--" You know the drill.Then there's the whole "this person did nothing and sold millions" and "this person did everything and sold tons" and then "I'm driving myself crazy trying to do everything and selling nothing."

The problem is that there is no magic formula for selling. There are far too many variables to say with certainty "if you do so and so you'll sell X amount." Now granted, my mom was right and "If you don't tell people, they won't know." And Dennis is correct that the other writers are doing social media, you bet. So no promotion is a mistake. Social media is a wonderful tool. But there's no way to tell if being on Google+ will sell more books or less than being on Facebook. Or if being on both will sell more of your title.

So how to have a best seller? Here's the secret, here's the magic formula: The writing always comes first. Let me repeat that. The writing is first, always. ALWAYS. The more you write, the better writer you become. The more you write, the more and better product you have to sell. The more you sell, the more you can cross promote. Etc. This doesn't guarantee a best seller. But the wonderful magic is: you'll be writing. You'll be doing what you love first. And wouldn't that be best?

How do you, dear reader, balance the need to promote with the need to write? Are you sometimes completely unbalanced like me? Any suggestions for what might be most effective for promotion? Or do you run screaming at any hint of that word?

Speak up and Succeed...

...without panicking.

Into every author's life comes the moment when you'll be asked to participate in an event, whether it be a book signing, a talk, sitting on a panel or doing a workshop. People love to meet the author. I've done a lot of events and will be doing many this year as part of my promo for my upcoming novel releases--the first one February 24th!

Here's a few tips that will help guarantee a successful whatever and help take those anxieties away.

First, practice beforehand. Keep notes on what you're going to say. If you're giving a read, read your pages out loud several times until you're familiar and comfortable. Practice looking up from your pages. Speak out and slow down. If your audience can't hear you or understand what you say, then enjoyment is lost. Try not to worry about it being "perfect," we all flub up and many times the audience doesn't notice!

Be brief and to the point. My mom always said, "Stop talking before people stop listening." Consider what you would like to hear from an author. Remember there's no reason to prove to your audience that you have succeeded as an author by telling about every step of your journey, your struggles and every single failure and success. The fact that you're in front of an audience means you've succeeded. Pick one to three stories and keep it brief. Less is more and leave them wanting more. Both cliches because they're true.

Think outside the box. For example, I'm going to be at an event at the Ada Community Library. This event will be by the Pixie Chicks' Writers (a group I belong to) and will be about An Eclectic Collage I and II, anthologies written by the Pixie Chicks. Instead of reading from my work, I'm going to demo the exercises from my article in An Eclectic Collage I.

Most important, relax as much as you can. Remember, the people in the audience are on your side and people too. The more you relax the more they will too and then everyone will enjoy!

Readers, any other suggestions?

Sell! Sell! Sell! Outside the box.

Eclectic Collage II, the just released anthology I have a story in.

Loy Ann Bell, the president of the Twin Falls Idaho Writers League and me at my talk. Wearing purple was not a requirement.

 Another anthology I'm in that will be released in October.

Since I've got three (!) new anthologies (including Untied Shoelaces of the Mind) that I have a story in coming out or have just come out, this post is about thinking outside the box when it comes to marketing. Sure, you need to do what everybody else does, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon Author page, etc. etc. but it's also smart to do stuff that others might not do. You might discover other surprising connections. Here's a few ideas:

Most pages now have "like" (facebook) buttons on them, this includes Amazon Author Pages, blogs and websites. "Like" away everything you, well, like! Including your own work. )Even if you don't like your own work.) When you find a blog/website that you like to share, share it!

The publisher of Eclectic Collage, Jane Freund of Freundship Press says that the world has changed, bookstores are no longer the (only) place to sell books and may be the least effective to sell books.She's right. In a bookstore, you're title is one among many. Think of other places that might be interested in selling books. For example, my brother has a tea shop in Texas.The tea shop sells other little items. People who drink tea also read. What better place to place my titles? My mystery novel, "Starke Naked Dead" comes out next year by L&L Dreamspell. The main character is a jeweler. I love jewelry and jewelry stores. Am I going to be asking at some jewelry stores if they would like to have my titles? Have a signing?! You bet.

Book reviews--everyone says you need to get a lot of book reviews, but as my mom always said, "You have to give to get." All writers love to read. So review, often. It not only helps out other writers, but it's a great way to get your name/brand out there. (And of course be honest and straightforward with every review, no matter what. An excellent example of a good reviewer is Jim Murdoch at his blog The Truth About Lies. His reviews are interesting in and of themselves.

 And last, but not least, Kathy McIntosh of Well Placed Words suggested this great idea. In Boise, there's a Community Education. People volunteer to teach classes in....everything. This type of community service is common. Kathy's suggestion--teach a class in something! Great way to connect in a lot of different ways!

So, dear readers, any more "outside the box" suggestions?

Next my newest venture!

Market! Promo! SELL!

Here I am at "An Eclectic Collage" book signing partaking of a wonderful cookie the publisher provides--with the cover on the cookie--great marketing idea!

Since every author, whether published or not, whether they want to or not, must now sell themselves, here are some ideas and tips that I've culled from all sorts of places. Plus, how to create an Amazon page.

To get started...my favorite tip: have a bumper sticker of one of your book's titles or web page created and place on your car(s) and your relatives' cars. This tip comes via The Marketing Goddess and she mentioned that here in the mid-size city of Boise, a bumper sticker gets around 600 views a day of driving around town! Try to make your bumper sticker funny/dramatic/curious/odd. I've noticed that I remember certain bumper stickers because they're funny/dramatic/curious/odd.

Now everyone will tell you about Internet marketing, here's a quick rundown and then the best piece of advice I've received about the overwhelming world of the Internet.
1. Join social networks, including those that are about what you write (ex. have a mystery with recipes? Join cooking groups, etc., think outside the book!).
2. Have a blog, post at least once a week, cross post to Twitter and Facebook and your other groups, comment on other blogs.
3. Tag EVERYTHING. Try to think of all the tags appropriate to your book or blog post or whatever.
The best advice I've read about all of this: the writing comes first! Remember if you do a little of the social networking, etc., you're doing a lot. It's not necessary to spend your whole life on the 'net.

How to create an Amazon author page:
First, google Amazon author page (I swear, this is the only way I've found to get to this site, anybody have a better way?). It's called Author Central. Follow the prompts to join and create your page. The prompts will ask and show how to list your books. It's easy! (One flaw: if you are an author of several in an anthology you will need to e-mail, on Amazon's provided form, Amazon telling them you are one of the authors of that title. Hopefully, they fix that soon.)

Have I missed anything major? Let me know!

And since this post is about marketing, here's my next signing--come and enjoy those cookies!

How about a good book and beverage to start your weekend? You’re invited to a book signing event for An Eclectic Collage: Creative Works by the Women of the Pixie Chicks’ Writers Group Saturday, May 21, 2011 (10:00 AM to Noon) Moxie Java Coffeehouse (1750 State St. – Boise) Other Freundship Press books including Mooser on the Loose, Grandma, Does My Moon Shine Over Your House? (English and Spanish versions) and other books will also be available.

Come meet the local authors of An Eclectic Collage: Creative Works by the Women of the Pixie Chicks’ Writers Group, a collection of short stories, poems, life essays, recipes and other writings.

    

Questions: jane@freundshippress.com or (208) 407-7457