Wencon... or - Success at a Pop Culture Convention

I attended Wencon last weekend as a vendor.
It was a Pop Culture Convention and very well attended.

Check it out! (read on)

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You Know Nothing...

I have been watching a lot of Game of Thrones over the past couple of month. In fact, I am now caught up having watched all five seasons available on DVD. So, when a couple of friends and I were chatting on Twitter yesterday, that line, “You know nothing, Jon Snow,” came to mind with regard to a possible title for one of the fellow author’s new books. He said no, but the other author suggested it would make a great title for a self-help book. I totally agreed – catchy and short – a perfect title.

Being an indie author, I thought, ‘what better subject then the marketing of indie books?’ However, also, like most indie authors, I work an eight to five job and do my writing and marketing during the early morning hours before work, lunchtime, evenings, weekends…you get the picture. I squeeze it in. So there will be no forthcoming book from me on marketing, but as you know, if you have been in the indie community, there are tons of books already written on the subject.

Reflection on 2015 and Plans for 2016

It is snowing lightly outside, dad is watching a football game and the fireplace is warming the room. Time to do a bit of reflection on my writing career during 2015.

First let me recap the goals I set for 2015 at the end of 2014 and how they turned out:

My Goals for 2015:

The Knotty and Nice of Indie Publishing #6 - Giving, Receiving, Promotional Items and Random Acts of Kindness

I have always been a giver. As a very young child, the arrival of company sent me scurrying off to my room for a crayon drawing, a toy repainted with mother’s newest color of nail polish or a short poem (which no doubt would have made any Hallmark Cards writer wince). I continue to be a giver. Hopefully, my gifts have improved.

If I give a gift of one Twitter follower’s work to another follower, both benefit. For example, I purchased a photo from a photographer follower (her first sale). I gave the photo to a musician follower. Now both remember me.

The Knotty and Nice of Indie Publishing #5 - The Importance of Personal Blogs, Profiles & Author Sites

Getting your name out there is a major key to an author’s success. It is paramount that you create and maintain an author blog and website. There are several tools you can use to push readers to your sites.

I have had a blog for years. I enjoy blogging and appreciate the 97,000+ folks worldwide who support it by reading. When I first started, it was just a story blog that I faithfully posted to on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Posting regularly and with something of interest is one key to building a consistent following. From the beginning, I have alternated between posting a scifi story, paranormal and a fantasy. I am pleased to say that every month or so it picks up 1,000 new hits.

The Knotty and the Nice of Indie Publishing #3 - The Domino Effect

Writing guest posts on blogs is a worthwhile way to attract an audience to your writing. Once the post is published, you and the person who owns the blog can Facebook the post, Google+ it, or Tweet it. If you are lucky, your connections become like dominoes.

Carla, a well-known author in Italy, gave me my first opportunity to write a guest post. Through the article I posted on Carla’s blog I met Max, who lives in Italy. Max liked what I wrote and clicked on the Web link provided. He has become one of my most devout and supportive fans.

Max belongs to a group called Effortless English (EE) which is composed of English-as-a-second-language (ESL) students who follow a program developed by A. J. Hoge. Hoge’s method of teaching English is to have students read authentic English material – books written for young English speaking students.

The Knotty and the Nice of Indie Publishing #2 - Social Media

It takes a community to get the proper attention for a writer’s work and social media helps accomplish that.


Your readers wish to learn about you as a person. They want to feel as if they know you. If you are gentle and engaging, folks will respond. They will assist you if you work together.

Shortly after I posted my first book, The Helavite War, on Kindle, my students suggested that I sign up with Twitter and actively work to market the book. Two of them stepped in and created a perfect profile – branding me as the author, reader, gardener and dreamer that I am.

The Knotty and the Nice of Indie Publishing #1 - My 1st Year

I started my life as a published indie author on May 1, 2013. It has been an all-consuming project ever since.

There is no blueprint telling how to become a successful indie author. Like childrearing, it does not come with a manual. Everything is trial and error. What works for one author may not work for another.

My goal last year was to post all twelve of my completed books to the Kindle store on Amazon. I accomplished that plus one more, thirteen in all. I also did so much more and met so many wonderful folks along the way.

I’d like to detail my journey thus far. Each step is important – each step helps build a bridge closer to the readers who I hope are awaiting my stories.