Zoe York's Blog, page 6

More than 50 authors are banding together this month, donating their great work, and increasing awareness and acceptance for those living with Autism.

This Week’s LIFT Authors

Aleatha Romig

B.L. Berry

Cassie Graham

Claire Contreras

Elisabeth Grace

Eliza Freed

Jasinda Wilder

Jennie Marts

Kimberly Knight

Kimberly Rose

Rebecca Yarros

Stephanie Rose

Whitney G.

Zoe York

The Rafflecopter is loaded with e-books, signed paperbacks, swag and gift cards from these amazing authors! Make sure you enter!

We are highlighting The Autism Society this week. With more than 50 years of service to the autism community, they are one of the nation’s leading grassroots autism organization. Please consider supporting their efforts!

CLICK HERE TO ENTER: a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

The post Week Two of LIFT: Authors Raising Autism Awareness! appeared first on Zoe York.

So here’s something that has happened to me twice in the last month (and to other authors as well) that everyone should be aware of:

People are creating accounts at some of the book retailers, and sometimes at aggregators/distributors like Draft2Digital and Smashwords, and uploading books that they don’t have rights to. They aren’t pretending they wrote these books. They’re using our books, our titles, and our names.

The first time this happened to me, it was on Apple. Another author flagged it for me; she’d been alerted by yet another author. In total, there were 17 books uploaded by this seller. We all emailed Apple. ​Worth noting is that I never received a response from iBooks. I think some of the authors have iBooks reps, so maybe they heard something. The seller’s account was taken down within a few days.

The next time it happened was on Monday. I got a Google Alert that my book, Fall Away, was available at Scribd. Except I didn’t send it to Scribd through my distributor, not even my accident–the only place I’ve ever uploaded that book file is Amazon, because it’s in KDP Select (exclusive to Amazon). It being on Scribd put that exclusivity in jeopardy, and of course, I assumed it was uploaded by a file sharer, a problem Scribd is notorious for.

But it wasn’t.

Scribd’s response to my DMCA takedown notice (they have a handy form on their site, and actually, that process was easy) was that the book was uploaded through my authorized distributor, Draft2Digital.

Meanwhile, a friend had noticed it was also at two other sites that D2D distributes to. So I sent all of that information to D2D, and their response came back pretty quickly–yes, really, really sorry, but it looks like someone created an account and uploaded your book. That account has been suspended, that seller contacted and informed they were caught trying to sell copyright material, etc.

So it was resolved, appropriately and quickly. But still. IT’S SO EASY. I wouldn’t have noticed if I didn’t have Google Alerts set up, because I never check my books on those sites.

It hasn’t yet happened to me on Google Play, but it has to other author friends, and sometimes those books start selling well. And Google pays really quickly, right after the end of the month.

So you need to be vigilant. Set up Google Alerts for your pen names and your book titles. If you have an assistant, make doing the rounds of the sites and making sure everything is in order with your titles part of their routine.

And maybe brace yourselves for book sellers to require more documentation of identity before creating a sellers account, because this is only going to get worse, I think.

Here’s the screen shot of Fall Away at iBooks last month. I didn’t take any screen shots of Scribd, but that looked pretty much the same, with the seller listed as me.

ETA: It’s still up on Scribd, so here’s that screen cap. You can see that there’s no way for a reader to even guess that I didn’t upload this.

 

The post Heads up for other authors…keep an eye on book retailers for scammers uploading your books appeared first on Zoe York.

 

GREAT PRE-VALENTINE’S DAY SALE!!!

CLICK HERE: http://romancebookdeals.com/hot-for-holiday/

Deals include a ton of freebies and temporary 99 cent deals, including two from me!

Fall Hard (SEALs Undone #2) and When They Weren’t Looking (Wardham #3) are both included in this limited time deal. Snag ‘em!

The post Great deals on hot holiday reads! appeared first on Zoe York.

For me, this year was all about series: first a series, second in a series, damn, I wish she’d write more in this series… And it’s also about the amazing leaps of faith that self-published authors can take, writing exactly what their fans want. Victoria Dahl returns to my top ten list, of course, but there are new names here. Some late additions in December, mostly the fault of Amy Jo Cousins who can’t stop recommending good books. And then I read her book, Callie, Unwrapped, and it had to go on my list, too…

There are dozens of amazing books that I read this year that aren’t on this list. I left some off because they’re written by my critique partners or I’d included those authors last year (Ms. Dahl, of course, is my fangirl exception, and whatever, she can always be on my list). I’ve left others off because I’ve seen them on other lists, and part of why I co-founded OMGReads is because I like to shine a spotlight on under discovered books. And then there are the books that I wrote down on a scrap of paper and lost it along the way, and when I find it in May, I’ll remember that I really wanted to put them on the list, too.

So with that giant caveat, here are my top ten favourite books 2014, as I remember the year at this point. Feel free share your own lists with me, either here in the comments or on Facebook!

~Zoe

Zoe’s Top Ten Books of 2014

1

Taste of Darkness, by Katie Reus. 1400 year old virgin. Plus he’s a dragon shifter. Need I say more? I don’t, but I will. A paranormal romantic suspense with all the feels, this book is Katie at her best. I hope she returns to this world, I loved this one even more than the first in the series.

2

The Bastard, by Inez Kelley. In the tradition of J.R. Ward and Kresley Cole, Inez Kelley has built a world both ethereal and familiar, raw and sexy and totally addictive. If there’s something that Ms. Kelley does better than anyone, it’s telling the story of the wounded warrior. Or in other words, big bad alpha male heroes who come totally undone when they fall in love. And Vike is an ancient bad boy, the perfect counter to Lacy, a modern, feisty heroine. I loved every last bit of this book. First in a new series.

3

Beyond Addiction, by Kit Rocha. This is book five in the Beyond series by the amazing duo that is Kit Rocha, and I think it was probably my favourite yet, but this is also a nod to the entire series. Fabulous world building, unique characters, grippy-as-hell story lines. And perfectly dirty. Beyond is my go-to erotic romance series.

4

Rocky Ride, by Vivian Arend. Technically the first book in a new series, and it can be read on its own quite nicely, but this is a return to Rocky Mountain House, the Coleman clan, and an introduction to the Thompson family as well. It’s short, sexy with a capital S, and classic Vivian Arend. I first read this in the excellent Marked anthology (now out of print, it also featured books by the aforementioned Kit Rocha and the amazing Lauren Dane, whose Hurley brothers books are on my honourable mentions list).

5

Callie, Unwrapped, by Amy Jo Cousins. A novella, and the first part of a serial at that, but it’s been a long time since a piece of short erotica has worked for me on so many levels. Beautifully written, great depth of characters across the three principal actors, and the sex is fresh and exciting and every bit as erotic as it should be for the genre. It reminded me a lot of Anne Calhoun’s Breath on Embers or Megan Hart’s Dirty.

6

Seduced, by Molly O’Keefe. This is one of two books on this list that I read because of Amy Jo Cousins recommending books on Facebook. It’s a genre I don’t usually read, American historical romance (post-Civil War), but the story has stuck with me and I’m glad I picked it up–I was hooked from the first few pages. Molly O’Keefe is a wonderful writer, as most contemporary romance readers know, but in this historical story she takes some brave turns that both surprised and impressed me. I believe this is a series, but she’s publishing them around her other commitments. I can’t wait for more.

7

Fanning the Flames, and Looking for Trouble, by Victoria Dahl. A two-fer, because I can’t separate the reading of these two books in my head. Actually, I enjoyed them both so much that they should each get a spot on the list, but that seems unfair to other authors who aren’t Victoria Dahl. And it’s because of Fanning the Flames, and how Sophie was introduced there, that I loved Looking for Trouble so much.

8

Frozen, by Meljean Brook. My favourite holiday book of the year, and it’s an interesting one. An experiment that Brook first wrote on her blog, it’s intimate and emotional and a little bit dark. Any romance about an ice giant who hides in a fortress outside of Denver must be, I think.

 

9

Private Politics, by Emma Barry. Second in a series, this book had my favourite hero of 2014. And as a diehard West Wing fan, discovering this series was like an early birthday present. Emma Barry is Aaron Sorkin’s more romantic long lost twin.

 

10

His Secretary: Undone, by Melanie Marchande. Sexy, funny, touching and bitingly satirical in places, this book was unlike anything else I read in 2014. Julia Kent recommended it to me, and I started it before bed one night. That was a mistake. I was up for hours, my eyes glued to my ereader as I tore through the first half of it. And then my writing for the next day was shot, because I had to finish it.

 

Honourable Mentions:

The Associates Series, by Carolyn Crane. Technically, book 3 in this series was a 2014 release, and when I read it, I’m sure I’ll want to retroactively edit this list and include it. But I was late to the party in reading this series, so I’ve only read books 1 and 2 so far, and they were both published in 2013. But when I finally got around to reading them, I kicked myself for waiting. This is high-stakes romantic suspense at its best, like geeky James Bond on sexy steroids. Or sexy James Bond in glasses? The geeky and sexy elements are both strong, and delicious, but the adventure and chemistry between the characters in the first two books stands strong on their own. Everyone should read these. Don’t let them linger on your TBR pile!

The first two Hurley Brothers books, by Lauren Dane. I’m linking to the second book in the series, because Ezra and Tuesday are still on my mind, weeks after I read their book. This couple…man, they’ve been through a lot, individually, and the joy they find in each other? Whew. This is a series I expect to re-read in the future. Dane layers a lot into her characters and the contemporary world she builds for them.

Worth the Fall, by Claudia Connor. This book has the best first act of any book I’ve read in a long time. The first third of this book will make you want to read Claudia Connor’s grocery lists, it’s that good. I remember when I was reading it, I kept stopping to email and tweet and FB about it, I was that excited. Wonderful debut.

Fly, by T.A. Foster. I love a good military romance, especially one where the hero stays in the Forces after the couple finds their happy ever after ending. This is a great example, and the story has stuck with me since the summer.

 

The post My Favourite Romances of 2014 appeared first on Zoe York.

Those scenes you read over and over again…all in one yummy collection for less than a buck!

Just $0.99! BUY IT AT: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks

Skip to the Good Part 2: 20 Authors Reveal Their Steamiest Scenes offers face-fanning romance and tie-me-up sizzle (and everything in between) from top authors including New York Times and USA Today bestsellers.

The collection features a bride purchased by a powerful man who has sexy plans of her own, a UFC fighter who falls in lust with the sister of his biggest rival, a woman who gets naughty with her ex hoping she can keep it a one-time thing, a biker charged with protecting a woman he desires from the wrath of a rival gang, and a woman held in a captor’s dungeon who finds that only part of her wants to be freed.

Read 20 of the best steamy scenes in contemporary romance and erotic romance today. This 250-page collection will get your blood pumping, your heart racing, and your skin tingling—you’re sure to discover a new favorite.

New York Times bestsellers:

Pepper Winters, Cristin Harber, Aleatha Romig, L.P. Dover, Zoe York, Geneva Lee

USA Today bestsellers:

Carmen Jenner, J.L. Berg

And featuring:

Kendall Grey, Chelsea Camaron, Amity Cross, Elisabeth Grace, Tia Louise, Kimberly Knight, Lisa Swallow, Elizabeth Otto, Zinnia Bennett, Juliana Haygert, Claudia Bradshaw, Delancey Stewart

(Zoe interjection: look at all those authors! I’m in amazing company)

Just $0.99! BUY IT AT:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks
LIMITED TIME PRICE!

(Ignore the part where this says pre-order, because this puppy is LIVE now, but look at all these awesome books!!!! Any here you wanted to try? Read the best parts right now!)

The post SKIP TO THE GOOD PART! appeared first on Zoe York.

Dec 1 -5

OVER 50 Romance Titles from Today’s Top Selling Authors on MEGA SALE–Some Are Even FREE!

Super Hot Deals and Steals!

Visit the Hot for the Holidays Deals Page

 

The post Cyber Monday eBook sale! appeared first on Zoe York.

As you may know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Last year, the first Shades of Pink event raised over $10,000 through more than 1300 donations! My story for that collection, See Me, is now available as a free download for all of my newsletter subscribers. (If you’ve already subscribed, go through the motions again! You won’t get duplicate emails, I promise). It’s also available on Amazon as part of the Kindle Unlimited subscription service if that’s easier.

This year’s story is the sequel to Ember and Gage’s first kiss. Touch Me is the story of their first…well, everything else! It’s the next night, and it’s pretty hot. I can’t wait for you to read it. And it’s exclusively available as a direct download for anyone who donates to the National Breast Cancer Foundation in the United States (or makes a similar donation to a cancer charity in their home county — please email Kallysten your donation receipt!).

CLICK HERE TO DONATE RIGHT NOW

For the second volume of the Shades of Pink anthology, 22 authors have allied for 1 cause: fundraising for research. Our gift to everyone who makes a donation? A romance anthology (ebook) titled Shades of Pink (volume 2), totaling almost 150.000 words / about 400 pages as a PDF.

The suggested donation is $5. Funds are raised via Stayclassy.org and all proceeds go directly to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Readers can also donate to the charity organization of their choice (with a focus on breast cancer) and email their receipt to receive their copy of the anthology in either PDF, ePub or mobi (kindle).

Who: Catherine Bowman, Mitzi Calderone, Vivien Dean, JJ and TA Ellis, Sabrina Garie, Nina Day Gerard, T. Hammond, Susan Harris, Laura Hunsaker, Kallysten, Amara Lebel, Alicia J. Love, Deelylah Mullin, C. Deanne Rowe, Cynthia Sax, DJ Shaw, Alice Stark, Ashley Suzanne, Gill Taber, Natasza Waters, Zoe York, Angela Yseult

When: Now through November 15th.

What: 22 short stories, including…

4 paranormal, 1 sci-fi, 11 contemporary, 1 historical, 2 military, 3 BDSM, 2 YA (some stories have more than one genre)
3 spicy (ménage or kink), 7 sexy (explicit sex scenes), 12 sweet (no sex)
A couple of vampires, about three dozen humans including soldiers, geeks, teachers, librarians, writers, survivors, bosses, rock stars, teens, mages, wives, husbands and fiancés, 1 succubus, 1 genie, a few aliens, some werewolves and other shifters.
Pink, pink and more pink, including tattoos, plenty of flowers, precious stones, jewelry, a bookmark, a drawing, ropes, lingerie, a car, a bag, a vase, various clothes, an anteater and a squirrel.

Where: Kallysten’s blog

Here you’ll find links to teasers for the stories, interviews of the authors and blog posts during all of October, a FAQ, and of course the link where you can donate and help this worthy cause.

The post Ember and Gage’s sequel, Touch Me, now available! appeared first on Zoe York.

All this month, women are writing about the magic of romance as part of the Read a Romance Month. My friend Shari Slade tagged me to write a blog post, and I immediately knew what my topic would be: the amazing things women can do. Individually. Collectively. Casually and with great planning.

This time last year I had a single book out and was furiously editing a prequel novella. I’d already experienced the loveliness of the romance community, through the encouragement of Romance Divas and the early support of bloggers like Nadine from Hook Me Up Book Blog and Kim from Read Your Writes, among others. And I made friends on Twitter–in fact, that’s where I bonded with Shari, over our mutual love of NSFW Tumblr links. (NSFW means Not Safe For Work. Also kids or Starbucks, although I’ve probably looked at my fair share of Tumblr images while sipping an Americano).

But then in late August of last year, the amazing Noelle Adams sent me an email. Would I like to participate in a boxed set for Christmas?

And that changed everything.

It spurred me on to finish my next novel in the series, which had been languishing. It brought me some wonderful new readers, and finally sparked my mailing list and Facebook reader groups into action. And most of all, that boxed set gave me confidence.

We can do this. It’s hard work, writing stories that connect with readers. But it’s not impossible work. And we can make it easier on each other by sharing an audience. Here’s a secret: readers love books. And they’ll love more books than any one of us can every write in our lifetime. I’m one of those readers who, when I’m not writing, will devour a short novel every single day. When I am writing, it’s much less: only a few a week.

So it didn’t take much to convince me that this spirit of working together to grow our audience was a GOOD THING. That led to the origin of the SEALs of Summer military romance superbundle, which hit the NYT Bestsellers List (#6 in ebook sales the week we released, thank you very much) and sat on the USA Today Bestselling List for a month. Ten amazing women did that.

And this week, forty-two authors from Romance Divas, NYT bestsellers and debut authors alike, released a charity anthology of short stories that makes me cry happy tears it’s so wonderful. Let me tell you a little bit about the Love is…collection. 40 stories (two of them co-written), many of them connected to existing series, some of them standalone, all of them inspired by that simple tagline.

So when I think about romance, first as a reader and then as a writer, I’m struck with what women can do, and how wonderful it is.

My story in this limited time collection is Perfect No Matter What, a sequel to What Once Was Perfect. Laney and Kyle are living together, but Kyle’s starting to think they’ll never make time in their competing busy calendars to make their commitment to each other official.

* * * * *

AN EXCERPT FROM PERFECT NO MATTER WHAT:

A swish of fabric and a familiar scent had him half off his stool before Laney stroked her hand down his forearm and gave him a play along look. “Is this seat taken?”

“All yours.” He looked her up and down. Damn, she looked good. Shiny hair, bright eyes, and not a stethoscope in sight. She wore a black mini dress and strappy high heels, her legs bare and long and ever so close to his. Yes, he’d play along. “You come here often?”

“First time.” She returned the admiring look and smiled a secret smile. “You in Vegas alone?”

“Sure am. My fiancée had to work.”

“All work and no play?”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “It’s okay, you can tell me. What happens in Vegas…”

He closed the gap between them and brushed his mouth against her ear. “Order your drink, woman.”

She grinned at the bartender and once they were alone again, she squeezed his thigh. “Miss me?”

“I missed Laney. I have no idea who this wonderful temptress is, but I think she might be trouble.”

“Of the best kind, I promise.”

“Dare I ask how you managed to get out here?”

A serious look drifted across her face for a moment. “It turns out, nothing’s impossible if it’s important enough.”

“I didn’t want you to feel like you had—”

“I came because I wanted to be here. With you.” Sexy, teasing Laney roared back to life. “Tell me more about your fiancée.”

“She’s beautiful. Looks a lot like you. Has a wicked mouth.”

“Not sure I can compete with that, but I’m willing to give it a go. I do this thing with my tongue…”

God, he was glad she’d made the trip. A laugh ripped up from his chest and he tossed his head back. “She has that too. She’s pretty perfect.”

“But she let you come to Sin City all alone. Naughty girl.”

“When I get home, I should spank her.” He pulled his wallet out and tossed enough on the bar for their drinks and a tip. “But since you’re here, I feel like a practice paddle.”

* * * * *

All this month, women are writing about the magic of romance as part of the Read a Romance Month. My friend Shari Slade tagged me to write a blog post, and I immediately knew what my topic would be: the amazing things women can do. Individually. Collectively. Casually and with great planning.

This time last year I had a single book out and was furiously editing a prequel novella. I’d already experienced the loveliness of the romance community, through the encouragement of Romance Divas and the early support of bloggers like Nadine from Hook Me Up Book Blog and Kim from Read Your Writes, among others. And I made friends on Twitter–in fact, that’s where I bonded with Shari, over our mutual love of NSFW Tumblr links. Before you click, just a reminder that NSFW means Not Safe For Work. (Also kids or Starbucks, although I’ve probably looked at my fair share of Tumblr images while sipping an Americano).

But then in late August of last year, the amazing Noelle Adams sent me an email. Would I like to participate in a boxed set for Christmas?

And that changed everything.

It spurred me on to finish my next novel in the series, which had been languishing. It brought me some wonderful new readers, and finally sparked my mailing list and Facebook reader groups into action. And most of all, that boxed set gave me confidence.

We can do this. It’s hard work, writing stories that connect with readers. But it’s not impossible work. And we can make it easier on each other by sharing an audience. Here’s a secret: readers love books. And they’ll love more books than any one of us can every write in our lifetime. I’m one of those readers who, when I’m not writing, will devour a short novel every single day. When I am writing, it’s much less: only a few a week.

So it didn’t take much to convince me that this spirit of working together to grow our audience was a GOOD THING. That led to the origin of the SEALs of Summer military romance superbundle, which hit the NYT Bestsellers List (#6 in ebook sales the week we released, thank you very much) and sat on the USA Today Bestselling List for a month. Ten amazing women did that.

And this week, forty-two authors from Romance Divas, NYT bestsellers and debut authors alike, released a charity anthology of short stories that makes me cry happy tears it’s so wonderful. Let me tell you a little bit about the Love is… collection. 40 stories (two of them co-written), many of them connected to existing series, some of them standalone, all of them inspired by that simple tagline.

So when I think about romance, first as a reader and then as a writer, I’m struck with what women can do, and how wonderful it is.

My story in this limited time collection is Perfect No Matter What, a sequel to What Once Was Perfect. Laney and Kyle are living together, but Kyle’s starting to think they’ll never make time in their competing busy calendars to make their commitment to each other official.

* * * * *

Buy the Love is… collection at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo

just 99 cents!

AN EXCERPT FROM PERFECT NO MATTER WHAT:

A swish of fabric and a familiar scent had him half off his stool before Laney stroked her hand down his forearm and gave him a play along look. “Is this seat taken?”

“All yours.” He looked her up and down. Damn, she looked good. Shiny hair, bright eyes, and not a stethoscope in sight. She wore a black mini dress and strappy high heels, her legs bare and long and ever so close to his. Yes, he’d play along. “You come here often?”

“First time.” She returned the admiring look and smiled a secret smile. “You in Vegas alone?”

“Sure am. My fiancée had to work.”

“All work and no play?”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “It’s okay, you can tell me. What happens in Vegas…”

He closed the gap between them and brushed his mouth against her ear. “Order your drink, woman.”

She grinned at the bartender and once they were alone again, she squeezed his thigh. “Miss me?”

“I missed Laney. I have no idea who this wonderful temptress is, but I think she might be trouble.”

“Of the best kind, I promise.”

“Dare I ask how you managed to get out here?”

A serious look drifted across her face for a moment. “It turns out, nothing’s impossible if it’s important enough.”

“I didn’t want you to feel like you had—”

“I came because I wanted to be here. With you.” Sexy, teasing Laney roared back to life. “Tell me more about your fiancée.”

“She’s beautiful. Looks a lot like you. Has a wicked mouth.”

“Not sure I can compete with that, but I’m willing to give it a go. I do this thing with my tongue…”

God, he was glad she’d made the trip. A laugh ripped up from his chest and he tossed his head back. “She has that too. She’s pretty perfect.”

“But she let you come to Sin City all alone. Naughty girl.”

“When I get home, I should spank her.” He pulled his wallet out and tossed enough on the bar for their drinks and a tip. “But since you’re here, I feel like a practice paddle.”

* * * * *

Buy the Love is… collection at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo

just 99 cents!

To celebrate romance, I’m giving away a signed paperback copy of What Once Was Perfect (and if you want to read in in ebook, it’s FREE!):

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post What Women Can Do appeared first on Zoe York.

The other day, I shared how I found my first handful of fans — by giving my first book away to anyone who would review it. And how important it is to have a mailing list to hang on to as many of those fans as possible, so the next book’s launch is a little bit easier.

Now that I’ve been around for a while, I can see there are other ways to successfully launch a SPing career. Shari Slade and Molly McLain both did it differently than I did (and different again from each other). Cora Seton blew us all out of the water. Go and study what they did–and continue to do. There are different ways to get noticed, but the next step is the same for all writers. How do you take that tiny band of loyal readers, the first five or twenty-five fans, and turn them into a small army?

1. Write another book, and this time, make it better than the last one. Make it high-concept and AWESOME.

Part of the success I’ve had over the last year can be attributed to my willingness to improve my product. My new series, Pine Harbour, is going to feature military heroes and more “fantasy” elements like movie stars coming to town, for example, because readers love those things. *I* love those things. And that’s really important. Don’t jump on a bandwagon that you don’t get excited about yourself as a reader. Be authentic and trust your gut, but don’t pull your punches, either. I learned that lesson from Roxie Rivera, who made the leap to self-publishing with books that she couldn’t sell to traditional publishers, but in her gut she knew there was a marketplace for. All of her MANY readers are very thankful she did!

2. Make it part of a series.

This isn’t just a self-publishing tip, this applies to everyone, but when you are your own publisher, there is absolutely no reason your books shouldn’t be connected. Don’t believe me? Write a couple books that AREN’T connected. Write a couple that ARE. And experience the difference in reader response. Or just take my word for it because this is HUGE. My free short story, See Me, only gets 10% the # of downloads my currently free novella, Between Then and Now, gets. Standalone vs. Series book.

How books are connected can be as simple as writing in the same voice and the same world. It’s better if the characters in Book 2 are introduced in Book 1, but if you’ve already written it, there are work arounds. Drag the characters from Book 1 forward into Book 2 instead, even if it’s just a little peek into how they’re doing now. Use the same town or themes. Find some way to promise readers of Book 1 that Book 2 is more of the same awesomeness.

My new series? A SPIN-OFF of Wardham, and the characters from one town will visit the other. Same world.

3. Tell your 5 fans about it before it comes out AND when it comes out. And give them something to be excited about.

You have fans! Trust that they are INTERESTED in your next project. Get them excited by sharing…whatever you feel comfortable. Excerpts are great. Covers are awesome. Inspiration boards, series information (even just titles and potential future protagonists!), supplementary information (world maps, family trees, real life connections), etc.

Use your mailing list. Create a fan group space (Facebook groups are great for this; other authors use Yahoo group and forums hosted on their own website, but I like Facebook because it’s not a site they need to go to JUST FOR YOU – they’re already there). Maybe make some swag.

And share that gathering space where new fans might be looking for that information — front and back matter of your books. Your social media sites. Your WEBSITE.

Start to build relationships with those fans. Forge a connection with them.

4. Always be Networking (Never be Annoying)

Always Be Networking is a phrase that my sister, who works in radio, says to me from time to time. I like to mentally add the extra refrain, Never Be Annoying. Again, the idea of acting authentically will serve you well here. In the first post in this series, I talked about how Goodreads was a welcoming place for me as a new author. People have asked me about that, and shared their experiences were not as positive. It’s true, GRers don’t like authors to overstep and push their books. But if you are offering something of value (an awesome book) and not asking for anything more than what they’re offering in exchange (honest reviews), you’ll be just fine. Just make sure you’re doing in an appropriate space: the groups set up for reviews in your genre.

Facebook, Twitter, Google+ are all ways to passively connect with other authors, editors, bloggers and readers, and I use all of them in varying amounts.

But the real networking comes in more personal exchanges. Responding to requests for help. Last year I made people book covers and website banners, connected them with editors I knew had openings and retweeted, shared and +1ed a LOT of posts. I critiqued passages, whole books and self-design efforts, and I read a lot of books. Be someone’s fan!

None of this is to suggest that you should be spending a lot of your time on promo. You shouldn’t. Promo should be something that has purpose and successfully pumps up your brand. As David Gaughran says, if you don’t enjoy marketing, you’re doing it wrong. Promo and marketing are not the same thing as networking. (Don’t try and sell me your book!) Networking is building authentic connections with other people in your industry.

And then when you do all of that, opportunities start to come up. Opportunities for cross-promotion and collaboration. And while I’m really happy with my growing fan base for the Wardham series, it is through these two networking efforts that I hit the NYT Bestselling List and am now able to write full-time. My books alone do not yet earn me a full-time income.

5. Know the marketplace

When T. L. Haddix asked, in the Self-Publishing Roundtable podcast, how I stay informed about the industry, my first answer was Twitter. And that’s true – I follow as many industry people as Twitter allows me too, and I go there whenever I get a whiff of something new and interesting. Twitter shows me what people are thinking – reviews, opinions, debate. It’s all there.

In talking this blog post over with friends, they also reminded me that I can also name off what books are on the Amazon and B&N Top 100 list, who has new releases out in a given week, who signed with what publisher and what series are where I want my series to be. I (try to) have my finger on the pulse, for sure. And that can seem daunting. This is where networking can come in handy. Don’t reinvent the wheel–do some of that research yourself, and then share what you know with others. Let them share what they know with you. Half the work, twice the knowledge.

But don’t be a PASSIVE receptacle for information. You won’t retain it without being genuinely interested in the context. And this isn’t just about knowing what books are selling – marketplace knowledge is crucial as a self-publisher to properly brand and promote your work as well. Your covers need to fit on the Amazon Top 100 list or it’s terribly unlikely what’s behind the cover will ever end up there. Your promo plan needs to mimic what the bestsellers are doing, or you aren’t likely to be a bestseller.

6. Taking it to the next level is easier if you work with other people

So you can do it all on your own. Write five high-concept books in an awesome, grippy series. Brand them well and promote them like heck. That should work. (If it doesn’t, review and revise — one of the beautiful things about SPing is that nothing is set in stone. David Gaughran wrote a blog post on his experience with this).

But that collaboration and cross-promotion point? It can make the whole process so much easier. The trick is setting reasonable boundaries about your time/money/effort, working people who share an audience with you, and giving as good as you get.

This is the perfect time to rave about the Ink Heart Authors and Romance Divas. Two wonderful groups that make writing anything but lonely. You might see chatter about “author loops”. Some are closed (like our InkHeart group), and others are open (like Divas and Marie Force’s Self-Publishing Loop). You want to be in both types of loops. The smaller, private ones…those come about with time as you forge friendships and business relationships. They often start with a single partnership with a critique partner, and then expand to include one, two, five or ten similar writer friends. All of a sudden you’re organizing a box set! It’s an organic development when you have total flexibility to do whatever you want with your books.

Of course, there’s always more…

I haven’t talked about using free books as a funnel, or the importance of regular releases. I barely touched on front and back matter, or bundles/box sets/anthologies, really. Let me know if you have questions about those that you haven’t found answers to elsewhere, and I’ll address those in future blog posts.

And a final caveat. Courtney’s blog post that inspired this post was written to help someone decide which path to take: continue working with publishers or make the leap to self-publishing. I can’t say that this blog post is quite so similarly helpful, because I don’t know what it’s like to work with a publisher. I can’t offer that perspective. If anyone would like to collaborate on a balanced look at both options, I’d be happy to advocate for SPing in a respectful way. But if you’ve made the decision to SP, I hope that these two posts will help you get through the lonely days before you hit that third stage of discoverability when it all just gets SO. MUCH. EASIER.