Monthly Archives: September 2017

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Can the Extra Squeeze Team Explain the Difference Between an Author Webpage and an Author Facebook Page? @A_SliceofOrange

September 30, 2017 by in category The Extra Squeeze by The Extra Squeeze Team tagged as , , ,
The Extra Squeeze | A Slice of Orange

Ever wonder what industry professionals think about the issues that can really impact our careers? Each month The Extra Squeeze features a fresh topic related to books and publishing.

Amazon mover and shaker Rebecca Forster and her handpicked team of book professionals offer frank responses from the POV of each of their specialties — Writing, Editing, PR/Biz Development, and Cover Design.

Can the Extra Squeeze Team Explain the Difference Between an Author Webpage and an Author Facebook Page?

Rebecca Forster | Extra Squeeze

Rebecca Forster 

USA Today Bestselling author of 35 books, including the Witness series and the new Finn O’Brien series.

Some days I long for the old days: books were created with a typewriter, manuscripts were Xeroxed and sent off to agents and editors, fans wrote real letters and books had covers.

Then I shake off the longing and realize this is a brave new world and I am knee deep in the muck of indie publishing. One of the first things I did was secure my domain name in my own name – not the name of a specific book or series. It wasn’t until years after my first indie book was published that I realized that I had scored big without even knowing what game I was playing.

That was how I constructed my first website too – through trial and error. Some thing worked but mostly the whole site turned into a hot mess without focus. The reason was that I didn’t know what the purpose of my website was, nor my Facebook page, nor my Twitter.

My original website had tips for new authors, my books without links, a picture gallery of my travels, even a few recipes. I constructed that site so that people would really, really like me, as Sally Fields once famously said.

But then I met Robin Blakely. She pointed out that the purpose of a website is to introduce people to my books, to sell my books, to assist readers in getting the most out of my books.  A website creates a brand and sells books. Duh! It sounded so simple.

To that end we streamlined by website. Information includes: clear delineation of series, stand alone books, work in progress, sample chapters of each book, and book group guidelines. It also includes a newsletter sign-up with a two-book gift. Of course there is a bio but my personal life is definitely secondary to my work.

Facebook is where I post the fun stuff. What I’m doing on a daily basis. I post updates on the trials and tribulations (always fun, never complaining) of the writer’s life. I love involving my Facebook friends in posts. For instance, I often find the strangest things as I walk in my neighborhood so I post a picture and ask what they see. We all write a little story.

Bottom line, for me the website is my professional introduction to readers and Facebook is a more personal outlet. I love the fact that readers don’t have to wait for a book signing to get to know me. I guess the brave new world of publishing has also given us fantastic new opportunities to connect with readers on all levels.

Jenny Jensen | A Slice of Orange

Jenny Jensen

Developmental editor who has worked for twenty plus years with new and established authors of both fiction and non-fiction, traditional and indie.

As I understand it a published author should have both. A website can have one page or hundreds of pages — a web page is any page you see when you surf the net. A FB page is used to brand, strengthen or update a brand and is usually viewed by followers and fans in their newsfeed.

Every author is a brand and a lot of authors have both. I can see the need. A well thought out FB author page would support an author’s website, and vice versa. Visitors have to go to a specific address to view the published content of a website. When they do, nothing else is competing for attention so if your content is compelling and well designed anyone who was interested enough to go to the site will at least look it over, at best read it and have to buy a book!

If your FB page is readable, interesting, compelling it will drive traffic to your website which, if you’ve hooked ‘em with your brilliance, will result in a sale and a new or returning fan – or drive traffic directly to the online store of their choice. Using FB engages your existing follower base. The whole point is to cultivate a readership, right? A FB page is the perfect place to announce a new release or to intrigue with an update on work in progress, to engage with your readers.

I love author websites; I love to learn about the author, their writing process, the books they read, the research they do, who influenced them and why. I’m fascinated by what may have crossed their path to spark the concept of a plot — anything about their writing life (the antics of the grandchildren or photos of the new patio furniture are, I hope, exclusive to their personal FB page).

Both platforms have been known to draw me in to become a new reader. Both are often the first taste of a writer’s style, their skill with storytelling and so just as with your books, choose your words with care and flair and be sure the content is error free. Both a FB author page and an author web page are reflections of your work. And as always, edit, edit, edit.

Robin Blakely | The Extra Squeeze Team | A Slice of Orange

Robin Blakely

PR/Business Development coach for writers and artists; CEO, Creative Center of America; member, Forbes Coaches Council.

H. O. Charles | A Slice of Orange

H.O. Charles

Cover designer and author of the fantasy series, The Fireblade Array


For me, a Facebook page is all about interaction with your readers. They can ask any question and have it answered publicly, It also serves as a noticeboard for announcements. Oh yeah, and it’s a good popularity measure, based on the number of followers you gain (or not)! A website is much more one-sided – it’s me controlling what information is laid out and how the readers get to interact with it (if at all). Both of types of sites are adverts for my work, but only my Facebook posts can pop up in a reader’s daily feed.

For a long time, I didn’t have a webpage – only a Facebook page. The website just wasn’t necessary. Even now, my website doesn’t get a huge amount of traffic. It’s just there to uphold my professional image (!) and stand as an information resource for those who don’t want to use social media.

Do you have a question for the Extra Squeeze Team?

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October OCC/RWA Online Class: Time Management Secrets for Authors taught by Stacy Juba by @LyndiLamont

September 29, 2017 by in category Online Classes tagged as , , , ,

October’s OCC/RWA Online Class is Time Management Secrets for Authors: How to Balance Writing, Book Marketing, and Your Schedule While Igniting Your Creativity with Stacy Juba.

Time Management Secrets

Do you wish there was more than 24 hours in the day? If it seems like there is never enough time to write, promote your published books, and/or prepare submissions to editors and agents and learn the ropes of the business side of writing, then this workshop is for you.

Author and editor Stacy Juba experienced the longest writer’s block of her life after a family health crisis. She went on a mission to resurrect her creativity and find the time and energy to manage her writing career. Thanks to her new strategies, Stacy created a successful editing business and launched an exciting new chick lit series, and considers her herself more productive than ever.

Over the course of the month, participating writers will take important steps to advance their careers while also reducing the stress in their lives. Whether you’re struggling to overcome writer’s block, beef up your book promotion, or get your writing career launched, this class will arm you with the skills to get to the next level.

Participants will receive assignments and suggested tasks in a friendly, interactive format so that by the end of the course, they will be in a much more organized state of being.

Stacy Juba

Butch Adams

About the Instructor:

Stacy Juba got engaged at Epcot Theme Park and spent part of her honeymoon at Disneyland Paris, where she ate a burger, went on fast rides, and threw up on the train ride to the hotel. In addition to working on her new Storybook Valley chick lit/sweet romance series, Stacy has written books about ice hockey, teen psychics, U.S. flag etiquette for kids, and determined women sleuths. She has had a novel ranked as #5 in the Nook Store and #30 on the Amazon Kindle Paid List. Stacy is also the founder of the Glass Slipper Sisters, a group of authors with Cinderella-themed romance novels.

When she’s not visiting theme parks with her family, (avoiding rides that spin and exotic hamburgers) or writing about them, Stacy helps authors to strengthen their manuscripts through her Crossroads Editing Service and offers online workshops for writers.

Enrollment Information

This is a 4-week online course that uses email and Yahoo Groups. If you do not have a Yahoo ID you will be prompted to create one when you join the class, but the process is not difficult. The class is open to anyone wishing to participate. The cost is $30.00 per person or, if you are a member of OCCRWA, $20.00 per person.

Find her at http://stacyjuba.com.

Sign up at: http://occrwa.org/classes/oct-online-class/.

Linda McLaughlin
Online Class Coordinator

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Quarter Days: Michaelmas Goose

September 28, 2017 by in category Quarter Days by Alina K. Field, Writing tagged as , , , , , ,

A Michaelmas Goose Market

Michaelmas

Greetings to everyone, especially my fellow history nerds. It’s September 28th, time for another installment of my Quarter Days blog.

Southwark Fair, September 1733, Hogarth

I’m a huge fan of feasting holidays, and much to my surprise, Michaelmas, September 29th, is one of those.

Harvest Time

It makes sense though. In every culture where there’s an autumn harvest, there’s an autumn harvest festival, like a Polish Dozynki or a German Oktoberfest. Some sources say that Michaelmas is still celebrated in England with roast goose and other goodies, like this fun Michaelmas dragon bread.

Last June I blogged about Midsummer’s Day, one of the Quarter Day holidays, and pretty self-explanatory. The same is true for this holiday—tomorrow is the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, he who battled Satan. 

In Fiction

I first encountered a mention of Michaelmas in Jane Austen’s Persuasion, and most recently saw a reference in fellow Regency author Caroline Warfield‘s latest release, The Reluctant Wife, where a character must get back to England for the Michaelmas Term at his university. For a historical author, a mention of Michaelmas is a wonderful device for setting the time of the story without citing a specific date.

Paradise Lost

One blogger claims that St. Michael was popular in Regency England because of the influence of John Milton’s Paradise Lost, a late seventeenth-century epic work. Researching this post inspired me to pull out my copy of the Complete Poems and Major Prose of Milton which, to be honest, I haven’t opened since my university days.

Paradise Lost is something of an early paranormal story of nearly invincible beings and shapeshifters:

…the sword of Michael from the Armory of God was giv’n him temper’d so, that neither keen nor solid might resist that edge: it met the sword of Satan with steep force…deep ent’ring sher’d all his right side; then Satan first knew pain…but th’ Ethereal substance clos’d not long divisible…Yet soon he heal’d; for Spirits that live throughout vital in every part not as frail man….cannot but by annihilating die…All Heart they live, all Head, all Eye, all Ear, All Intellect, all Sense, and as they please, they Limb themselves, and color, shape or size assume as likes them best…

A Servant Hiring Hall, Rowlandson

Contracts, Rents, and Work

And of course, as I mentioned in my June post, Michaelmas was a day to pay rents (possibly in kind, with a fatted goose) to hire and pay servants, and sign contracts.

Do you celebrate Michaelmas? If so, please share in the comments!

Have a magical Michaelmas, and I shall return in three months to talk about the next Quarter Day, Christmas!

 

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Editing Nightmare

September 22, 2017 by in category Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as , ,

Editing Nightmare | Veronica Jorge | A Slice of OrangeI think I’m obsessed with editing.

I’ve revised my novel so many times it feels different than what I started with. Maybe that’s a good thing. But sometimes I find that I’m my harshest critic and at night, when I most want to rest, I turn into a berserk editor.

Last night I dreamed I was in a commercial demonstrating a slicing and dicing machine.

I was chopping up words, not food.

The previous night I saw myself seated behind a desk with a plaque that read, ‘Veronica Jorge, Editor, You imagine it, we print it.’ A distinguished looking gentleman cringed before me, chewing on his thick mustache and nervously wiping his spectacles with a white starched handkerchief. My contorted face ridiculed his manuscript.

“O.K. bud, let me get this straight. You’ve got an orphan girl; lonely, bored, misunderstood. She gets whooshed up into a tornado and winds up in a magical realm where they’re ready to worship her. And all she wants to do is go back to her dreary life on a dilapidated farm? You just set up your plot to fail!

Try a different spin. This chick; Dorothy, right?  Have her use her powers to control the munchkins then march them into Oz and take out the Wizard. She rules, hooks up with the scarecrow and they have some off- the -wall kids.

Now, you’ve got a story!”

Write from the Heart | Veronica Jorge | A Slice of Orange

In the third nightmare, I sat behind the editor desk again. This time the plaque read, ‘Home Girl Publications, You dish it out, we can take it.’

I tore into the lovely author. My words curdled her milky complexion.

“No way readers gonna connect or sympathize with these March girls puttin’ on plays, gawkin’ at the lanky shorty next door and mopin’ after poor ole daddy gone off to war.

We got sisters out there dealin’ with real-life issues. Some got husbands serving in Afghanistan or Iraq. Others are strugglin’ as single moms with wannabe men and make-believe daddies sweatin’ ‘em. All of them doin’ it for theirselves; holdin’ down two, sometimes three, jobs just to make ends meet and put food on the table for the kids.

You gotsta keep it real, honey. Nameen?”

 

I wake each time, heart pounding and stressed over getting my novel perfect, and I ask myself whether I should continue writing.

The answer is always a resounding, “Yes”, because the story is the story of me and I must write it, if only just for me. Maybe then the nightmares will cease because it seems that my peace is contained in my novel’s completion.

 

See you next time on October 22nd.

 

Veronica Jorge


Manager, Educator, and former High School Social Studies teacher, Veronica credits her love of history to the potpourri of cultures that make up her own life and to her upbringing in diverse Brooklyn, New York.  Her genres of choice are Historical Fiction where she always makes new discoveries and Children’s Picture Books because there are so many wonderful worlds yet to be imagined and visited. She currently resides in Macungie, PA.

 

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Villains, Victors & Vixens: OCC/RWA’s Birthday Bash

September 21, 2017 by in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Events, Writing Conferences tagged as , , ,

Villians, Victors & Vixens: OCC/RWA's Birthday Bash | A Slice of OrangeYou’re Invited to Join OCC/RWA in celebrating our Birthday Bash!

We’re having the Birthday, but we want to give everyone the presents.

 Villains, Victors & Vixens

Come for the day and/or join us Friday night for the Write In and Saturday Night for the Pajama Parties

October 21, 2017
Embassy Suites – Brea
900 East Birch Street
Brea, California, 92821

Cost is $50 for OCCRWA Members

$60 for All other Guests

$30 for Past Presidents

Signup HERE.

Keynote Speaker: Damon Suede

Bestselling Author, Renowned Speaker, and member of the RWA National Board of Directors

Reader’s Block:

Damon’s talk focuses on the modern romance industry, the radical shifts in readership and fandom and how they’re altering what success looks like for professional authors. Genre fictioneers often grouse about writer’s block but more and more what we encounter is something more akin to reader’s block: an unwillingness to step beyond our ruts or move past the shadow of our steeples.

Romance is the literature of hope, simultaneously the most traditional and most provocative of genres. Our industry is evolving, but not necessarily in the obvious ways. Tribalism and division cost us marketshare and media access. In a world expanding and connecting at an exponential rate, where do books land? Who are the readers of tomorrow? What is the future of love stories and genre fiction careers? Join us for a free-range discussion of the art of heart and the business of happy endings.

Bestselling author Panel : Debra Holland, Maggie Marr, Brenna Aubrey, Damon Suede

What Made the Difference!

Lunch will be served

Auction! Auction! Auction!

Incredible auction prizes from Scrivenver, RWA, Embassy Suites, Amazon, Major Publishers and authors

Come in Costume!

There will be Prizes. Dress as your favorite book character.

Book Cover Contest!

Enter your favorite covers for prizes. And help judge the winners.

(you can enter on the OCC website)

Awards for the Orange Rose and Book Buyer’s Best Contests

Friday night Write-In

At least one hour with Damon Suede

Saturday Night Pajama Parties — Damon Suede, Louella Nelson, Maggie Marr and more.

Cost is $50 for OCCRWA Members

$60 for All other Guests

$30 for Past Presidents

Signup HERE.

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