Business Lessons for Writers #OpenBook Blog Hop

I don't claim to be the most business-savvy author you'll ever meet. In fact, I'm still learning. But the toughest lesson I've learned is that it takes money to make money.

For the most part (and there are rare exceptions) writing a good book isn't enough to make you successful. There are lots of good books out there, and it's tough to get noticed in the crowd. You can try all the free sites in the world and sell a few books, but that won't support your writing habit.

Then there are other places that charge varying degrees of money to publicize your book for you. Usually the price of their advertising matches the size of their audience. The bigger the number of their followers, the more money you have you spend to get listed with them. But there's a reason that authors buy promotions with those sites—they sell books!

I'm not going to give you a comprehensive list of sites that will publicize your books. A quick search on the internet will give you that information. Two moderately priced ones I had good luck with are E-Reader News Today and Robin Reads. Each costs around $50 to promote a book in the mystery genre.

There are also services that will send out tweets to their followers and others that will post to groups on Facebook for you. Some offer to promote your book across a wide range of social media. What you do depends on how you want to reach your target audience.

So if I had to start over, I'd make sure I had a "bank" to use for paid promotion services. I know it may seem unnecessary after sinking money into editing, formatting and a professional cover, but it's worth it.

And that's my 2¢ worth. Now I'm off to learn from my fellow authors!





September 25, 2017 – Tell us your biggest business lesson learned. If you were to start your writing career all over again, what would you do differently?
Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants' blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person's blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.
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Cover Reveal #EnforcerSeries

I'm tickled to help out a friend with her cover reveal today.It's her next book in the Enforcer series.


Ryleigh, take it away!

Reveal Date: 9/19/2017
Blurb:
She was too broken and I couldn't save her.

I’ve survived multiple deployments to places that just hearing the name makes people cringe. I think nothing of attempting to save lives when they have the most impossible injuries, all while sustaining my own wounds. I’m a medic, a healer, a helper, a fixer. I must do this to conceal my dark, scarred, broken soul. I loved her beyond reason even though I knew I could never have her.

Now I’m dragging myself back to the light, the land of the living with the help of my friends.I need to find her. The one who will be my rock. My heart. But to find her, I have one more battle to fight.

This one will be the most difficult yet.

Links:
https://twitter.com/ryleigh_rhodes
https://www.facebook.com/RhodesRyleighAuthor/
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35431235-j

Photographer: Kruse Images and Photography - https://www.facebook.com/KIPmodelsandboudoir/
Cover Artist: Rebel Edit and Design - https://www.facebook.com/rebeleditdesign/

Hashtags:
#AuthorRyleighRhodes #EnforcerSeries

What Would You Do in a Recession? #OpenBook Blog Hop

First, let's get one thing straight. The difference between a recession and a depression.

A recession is an economic downturn characterized by an uptick in unemployment. They normally at least 6 months. A depression is more severe and may last years. There have been 8 recessions since 1960, according to The National Bureau of Economic Research. Bet you didn't know that! I didn't.



So surviving a recession isn't so hard, especially if you are lucky enough to keep your job. Here's a few things you can do beforehand to get ready for one:



Keep your debt as low as possible. I get it, that new gadget is really hard to resist . But do you need it? Is it worth buying now and paying interest for several years? Interest is low right now, but it might not be in several years.



Stash some cash. Forget what the experts say about saving enough to cover several months of your expenses, that's unrealistic for many of us. But save something. Every bit helps.



Remember the old saying—waste not, want not? I had a friend who used to throw away things that were old but not broke. (She's not a friend anymore.) She didn't want to be bothered with storing them (which I understood) or donating them (which I didn't understand.) We as a society are too quick to discard things. I'm a strong proponent of recycling and believe that might save us some problems down the road.

But what to do if another recession hits? First off, don't worry about maintaining your current lifestyle. That may be a losing proposition. Instead, figure out a new lifestyle that is sustainable Can you live on unemployment and food stamps? (in the US)



Grow your own food. Well, not all of it, but start with fresh vegetables and spices. Even if you live in an apartment, there are some you can grow on a windowsill. Eat out less and cook more.


Live simpler. How many pairs of shoes do you need? Same goes for everything else you buy. How many TV channels can you watch at once? In fact, turn off the TV and read a book (and save electricity at the same time.) You can borrow them from the public library for free.


Learn how to fix the things you already have. Sew on a button or change the hem yourself instead of taking that outfit somewhere else to be fixed. By the way, bartering is a way to get goods and services without spending money and it works. What are you good at that you can use as a bargaining chip?


Like to travel? Take day trips instead of week long trips. You'll still need to buy gas but you'll save the cost of a hotel room.Or, go primitive camping. See nature from the ground up.

How wold you adapt to a recession? Tell me in the comments. In the meantime, let's hop over and see what the other authors have to say.




September 18, 2017 – The Great Recession. We have probably all heard of if not lived through a recession. If a recession occurred today, what would you do to sustain your lifestyle? What changes would you make?
Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants' blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person's blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.
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Her Ladyship's Ring #MFRW Hooks

From Her Ladyship's Ring, Book 2 of the Oak Grove Mysteries:

Freddie nodded and climbed out of the ambulance. I watched with interest as he and the officer walked towards the porch. The officer, one of those people who used their hands to talk, waved them wildly in the air. The flashlight he held created a miniature laser show as he moved it about. But my attention was diverted when the paramedic discovered another ding on my face and applied the medication that stung worse than the original cut.

“Are any of those cuts going to leave a scar?” Luke asked from the peanut gallery.

“They shouldn’t.” The paramedic cupped my chin in his palm and moved my head back and forth, studying his handiwork. He pushed a strand of long brown hair that had escaped from my bun away from my face. “Not as long as she keeps them clean and they don’t get infected.”

One more thing for me to worry about. I tried to remember which cheek James Bond’s scar was on. Or were female PI’s supposed to be flawless? If so, I'd never qualify. My glasses were enough to eliminate me.

It didn’t take long until Freddie came back. “How long were you here before the shot was fired?” he asked. He seemed tired as he climbed back into the ambulance and stood opposite me, bending so his head wouldn't scrape the roof of the ambulance.

“Maybe fifteen minutes.”

“And Luke and Joe were with you the whole time?”

“Well, no.” With Freddie back into cop mode, not friend mode, I got nervous. “I drove up ten minutes or so before them.” I glanced at the boys, and Joe shrugged.

“Did you go into the house while you were waiting?”

“No.” I felt the heat in my cheeks. “I thought I saw something moving upstairs, and decided to wait outside for them. It was probably just the reflection of a bird on the window, but I didn’t want to take any unnecessary chances. Besides, they were bringing the cleaning equipment.”

“Did you hear the shot? Was there more than one?”

What the hell? “No, I didn’t, I was singing.”

“Badly,” muttered Luke.

“Off-key,” added Joe.

I never claimed to be good.

Blurb: 

Harmony Duprie is back, and so is trouble in Oak Grove.

When a man is murdered in the back yard of the old Victorian house she is remodeling, Harmony is determined to locate his next-of-kin so he can be put to rest properly. But with her ex-boyfriend Jake out of prison, back in town and one of the suspects in the murder, she takes on the challenge of solving the crime.

With Eli, her current love interest, in Florida and Jake close by, old emotions come back to haunt her. Can Harmony clear Jake's name and solve the mystery of her own heart?

Her Ladyship's Ring is available at these retailers:


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VQE31S2

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1121692446?ean=2940151639064

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id982884469 


https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/her-ladyship-s-rin

Where were you on 9-11 #OpenBook Blog Hop

Some events are burned into our memories. The moon landings. The Kennedy assignations. We use them to mark the passage of time. For me, one of those was 9/11.

The day started out normally at the state agency where I was employed. The beginning of the day paperwork and barrage of phone calls. The smell of a plethora of cups of coffee in the air and the chatter of coworkers as they settled into workday echoed in the hallways.

And then, the mood changed and the whispers started. Something about a plane crash in New York City. Into a building. Our boss pulled a TV out of his office and moved it into an empty room where any staff member could stop by and catch up on what was going on.

Then a second place crashed into a nearby skyscraper. All pretense of work ended as we tried to keep up with the rapid flow of incoming news.

When a plane crashed into the Pentagon, I couldn't believe it. I'd always thought of the Pentagon as indestructible. But then, I'd never imagined anyone crashing a plane into it.

Unlike some of my coworkers, I hadn't started crying yet. I was too stunned to process my emotions. And then the South Tower collapsed.

When word came of another plane being hijacked, we were all sent outside. Not that our small office was a likely target, but all the government facilities in the state were being evacuated as a precaution. Some of us sat in our vehicles and turned on the radio to listen to the news.


And that's when I panicked. All they knew was the fourth plane had crashed into a rural area in Western Pennsylvania. And that was all they knew. My family lived on Western Pennsylvania in a rural area. I couldn't even go back inside the building to call them. Luckily, one of the other employees had a cell phone and she allowed me to borrow it. (Daytime calls were limited back in those days!) I was able to get through to my mother and check in. All of my siblings were safe—including the one that worked in the DC area— although she was still waiting to hear from some nieces and nephews.


We did get to go back inside after awhile. I don't remember much work getting done that day. Not that anyone cared.

The images of people covered in ashes walking away from the disaster site will forever stay with me. I feel blessed that no one I knew was killed in the attack.

Let's find out what the other authors remember about the day.

P.S. To all my friends and acquaintances throughout Florida—may you stay safe and may your electricity come back soon!


September 11, 2017 – Where were you and what did you do when you heard about the 911 attacks? What did you do to move on?
Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants' blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person's blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.
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Common Mistakes in Books #OpenBook Blog Hop

There's a lot of things I'm forgiving of when it comes to reading books. The occasional typo. (Like one or two in an entire book. Not one per page! ) As an author, I know how hard it is to track those things down and I'm willing to overlook the occasional slip.

I'll forgive a slight slip in logic especially in fantasy and science-fiction. After all, you have to be able to suspend reality to read those stories.

There are a few things I can't forgive.

Many years ago, when I wasn't working out of the house, I'd watch a soap opera—more to have noise in the house than to follow the story line—and then I realized that one night in soap opera time had eaten up over a week in real life. That was the last time I watched the show. Time slips in books do the same thing to me.

The beginning of the page it's morning? And by the bottom of the page the characters are eating supper? And there's been no break in the conversation in between? Imaginary points deducted. Depending upon the story, it may be what drives me to close the book and never finish reading it. Sorry, I can't tell you what book that was so you can avoid it. I've driven it out of my memory.

Another thing I despise are books for teenagers that try way too hard to sound cool. (See what I did there?) Sure, teenagers use slang, but I've never talked to one that every word that came out of their mouth was a fad. I've talked to a lot of teenagers and guess what? Most of them use the same words as you and I.

One more. If you are going to write a series, you must have a different plot for each book. Don't rehash the same story over and over. The heroine gets kidnapped in book one? She'd better not get abducted in book two. The dashing hero overcomes his past trauma and rescues the lady and falls in love with her all in one book? Maybe book two the heroine should rescue the hero!

And please, even if you are writing a series, don't write a cliffhanger at the end of the story. Give us closure at the end of the book. You can leave enough open questions to make us want to read the next book without leaving us dangling. I'll refuse to by the next book out of sheer orneryness.  (That's not a word, I know! It should be.)

'Nuff said. Let's find out what everyone else has to pick on!



September 4, 2017 – As writers, we’re also readers. What is a common mistake you see in many books? Offer suggestions for making a change. You can even share a paragraph from a book and correct it.
Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants' blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person's blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.
Wordpress:



Custom Blog:

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

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