Dee Palmer's Blog, page 6

It struck me the other day when I had an email from a reader addressed to “whomever reads this”…Well, I know many writers have PA’s and such but I just wanted to clarify…I don’t. I mean I have people that help promote…man do I love those ladies and from December I will have someone help with publicity but with regard to answering emails, messages, pm’s, tweets and generally communicating its just me. I actually hope it always will be.

I love chatting and meeting new readers so if you do ever make contact and please fell free,  rest assure the response will only ever be from me. :) xdee

Ethan hit kindles all over the world today…gotta love technology! Maybe not the smartest day to release, it being Thanksgiving…but on the other hand I am extremely thankful for everything that has happened this year culminating in the release of my 4th full length novel so perhaps it is the perfect day.

I am lucky enough to be featured in Redhot Romance November issue which is a great online magazine highlighting new and upcoming releases…well worth a peek.

I’d like to take a moment to thank all of you that pre-ordered. I really hope you like this story that I sort of fell deeply in love with…and I would be forever THANKFUL if you would leave a review. xdee

It’s 10 days until Ethan’s Fall is published and I learnt how to make a gif. file. I don’t know what I am more excited about…oh no wait, yes I do!

Ethan’s Fall is currently steaming up some kindles across the globe as I sent out a few ARC’s out last week. Had my first 5 star review which knocks my little socks off

So not long now and it is a great time to pre-order because it’s super cheap 99p/99c but it will go up to £2.99 after release. I wanted to keep a low price to reward loyalty…I knew I would put it on sale at some point and I know I get a little peeved when the price reduces 2 weeks or so after I bought a book at full price. It happens and thats fine but still wanted to reward rather than penalise.

Hmmmm….Looking forward to meeting your new BBF?

Need a shout out type of thing…

Quick one…now I know I don’t stand a cat-in-Hells- chance of getting on a shortlist in any of the Goodreads annual polls…thats not a cry me a river comment by the way…just reality and thats cool. What is also cool is that I have been nominated in these awards…Ravishing Reads- Erotic Authors Guild- Breakthrough Erotic Author 2015…Soooo if you could pop over and cast a vote my way I might just get my cat in to hell after all…I don’t have a cat and I have no idea why it would want to be in Hell to begin with…

Please vote – Thank You xdee

http://eroticauthorsguild.org/ravishing-reads/

Just a quickie…wanted to say several thank yous …

1.I have a Freebie on right now of Never a Choice and there are many people liking and sharing..spreading the love…

2. I have a sign-up for ARC’s and release blitz for Ethan’s Fall that is currently doing the blogging rounds..so in advance to the lovely bloggers…

3. I have a lovely street team but I am in awe of the dedication and time Kris in particular so generously heaps my way…

4. For every new reader, new member of my Chosen Ones Reading group and for every like on my author page…

5. For new author friends…just wow :)

So for all of the above…Thank YOU!!

xdee

The lovely ladies at Fictional Mens Room for Book Ho’s Book Blog have kindly read and reviewed all three books in The Choices Trilogy and I’m beyond happy…jumps up and down like a crazy person.

I wonder if it gets easier but I get a real sick churning in my tummy when I know someones reading my books. I get messages all the time before, during and after and don’t get me wrong I bloody love to hear how people are getting on. But still, someone, somewhere has my book in front of them and that kind of blows me away.

Here’s the link for the blogsite if you want to check out all of Vivienne’s (wonderful) Reviews.

http://fictionalmenspageforbookhos.blogspot.co.uk/

Well, I know I would give my left nut and a boob squeeze thats for sure…If all the 5 and 4 star ratings I have on Goodreads would post on Amazon too.

I mean you obviously have my undying gratitude for posting a review in the first place but…pasting it on to the mighty Amazon as well…well, that would warrant a little more ;)

) 

Honestly, you really want to know? Well, there isn’t one…my guess and it is a guess would be to perhaps write a good book and maybe not be an arse-hat but now I have your attention…I have  the results of a little project I’d like to share but first…

Important Notice..No animals were harmed in this study..but some Bloggers where put in the spotlight…for once!

I’m not a blogger…I have on a few occasions wished I was, when I see an ARC’s being released from a favourite author….Yeah I definitely want to be a blogger then. But I’m a writer and as of eight months ago I didn’t even know what a blogger was. I do now.

In 2014 there were 42 million blogs..I had a little trouble narrowing that down to actual book bloggers and by the third page of my Google search the headings had pretty much all started to disintegrate into varying levels of porn. (Not that that is a bad thing ;) ) So lets just say there are lots, lots of bloggers and I know from my own genre there are lots of Romance, Erotic Romance, Dark Romance and Romance Romance book bloggers.I asked 10 bloggers with over 150K followers between them a few simple questions…To which they kindly gave me their time to answer…I know more precious time but you’ll find most are like that…more than happy to help.

They do all have one thing in common though, as a new indie author they are vital for visibility and getting to readers…They also don’t owe me a damn thing…Not that I ever thought they did. I never assumed there was someone out there in a position to help authors spread the word so to learn that there was, was a revelation and a bit of a bonus.

I may very well be in the minority here, I am a little new to all things social media but it got me thinking, why do book bloggers Blog? I know why authors seek them out but what do the bloggers get out of the relationship? Money, Fame…Fifteen minutes in the Spotlight… um no… Not any of those things. They do get misunderstood, stressed, spend much time away from their families and which is occasionally topped with a sprinkling of ingratitude. This isn’t a pity party piece but just a peek from the other side.

(With hindsight I wished I had asked them to fill in the names on the questionaire because I would love to know who won the Blog Award and trophy, or who was interviewed for Elle magazine and which author they felt key to helping as part of their collective proudest moments…but hey…hindsight not one of my superpowers.)

Did you know that some bloggers receive over 20 review requests each week. On top over over 100+ requests to pimp a sale, reveal a cover, highlight a release all the while striking a balance with the content of their page so it is not one long advert. Just do the math…an average book may take a speedy reader and I am assuming these bloggers are speedy readers, maybe 2 days to read one book, thats 3 maybe 4 books a week. So best will in the world they are not going to be able to read ALL the requests…ever!

So time spent ranged from twenty to over a hundred hours, reading and blogging per week. Why would anyone dedicate that much time?

“I love finding new authors, talking about books with like minded people.

Discussing the book you’ve read .

And this is a bit naughty but I do like reading ARCs before any one else !”

“Being able to discover new talent and share it as well as becoming friends with established authors and follow them on their continue writing journey/careers.”

“It makes me happy to help spread the word about books I love; hence why I started hosting my own author events, bringing my favorite authors to readers.”

Oh and there’s the free stuff right? Yeah…that would be a no.

“I don’t blog for the Freebies ! I actually spend a lot of my own money on prizes and postage for the blog.”

“International giveaways are extortionate postal prices. Yet I and many bloggers incur the costs.

It’s not a profession, it’s a hobby. There’s too many demands at times and a lot of bloggers give up because of this.”

“That a day has only 24hrs. I often need a 36hr day or wish I could get paid reading books. My tbr is overflowing and I hate that I’ve too little time for everything I want to do/achieve.”

But as hobby’s go, most agree this one is right up there for personal rewards,

“Reading amazing books and then the interaction from readers when I talk about those books. I love fangirling and discussing books with my fellow readers. I have made so many close friends this way. And then of course the authors! I have so much love and respect for them all.”

“My reading world led me to my blogging world. I became friends with a lot of people in the industry. This journey was a pathway to becoming an author. I’ll never be rich but I achieved my goal.”

“Authors need bloggers and Bloggers need authors

I love blogging and could never see me not doing it.”

I personally have made friends with a few bloggers…(or friends as I like to call them)…its kind of inevitable as a new author but no one reads the same book so whether they ‘like’ me or not doesn’t mean they will like my books and as an author I’m glad because integrity, trust and honesty are paramount in a virtual world. Whether the blogger has five followers or fifty thousand they are still, at heart just people who love to read…simple. It’s not a race, or a competition… It’s a journey lets enjoy the ride.

This book world can be everything we want it to be supportive, collaborative, inclusive…It’s easy you just have to realise you’re not alone.

“ There are so many blogs who can all have a collective influence on helping to get authors noticed. I don’t think you can really say it’s just one blog.”

I would like to thank Totally Booked, Wicked Book Blog, Our Kindle Konfessions, Bloggers from Down Under, Holly’s Hot Reads, Kelsey’s Korner, Shameless Book Club, Redhot Romance, Schmexy Girl Book Blog, Missey’s Book Blog, Lost Between the Pages, Fictional Room, Hook Me Up Book Blog

*New Release*…Ethan’s Fall goes live 26th Nov and instead of releasing and then reducing the price at a later date…which happens. I am releasing with a special Pre-Order price of 99p/99c for this super hot full length novel.

The price will then go up to 2.99. I sort of made the massive assumption that anyone that enjoyed The Choices Trilogy would be the first to buy my new book and I didn’t want to penalise them for their loyalty. So go one click crazy and enjoy :) xdee

You know what really makes me smile? Apart from the girls from the JD Facebook group…yeah, definitely that, but also when another author answers a message or offers tips and promo opportunities. I mean how lovely is that? M Never, J A Huss have both done that this week, and I get all fangirl stupid when Tiffany Riesz, Jodi Ellen Malpas and Kitty French like a post or reply to a silly tweet. It’s the little things.

And don’t get me started on the loveliness that is the myriad of bloggers, large and small that take time to share and promote. I could thank people all day, book friends for just being there, because lets face it no one in my real world gets ‘this’…except Kymme…you get this. I have a small street team of really lovely ladies, some more active than others but I appreciate them all so much…It’s such a surreal concept to have people support me in this way…brilliant and awesome but surreal too.

Not a riveting post but I’m just super grateful to this wonderful book world and wanted to share some positive… xdee