My Memories Free Digital Software Contest

 

As much as I enjoy writing on my books and blogs, sometimes I just have to take a break and craft. That being said, I've discovered the fun and convenience of digital scrapbooking! I have tried a few online programs this summer and I am delighted with this one. This is a winner! I like that I can use it both offline and online. And it's always growing with new graphics and improvements. Yep! The owners of My Memories have come up with a great Digital Scrapbooking Software that is easy to learn and loaded with lots of tools to make beautiful albums, books and journals!

Not into scrapbooking? Why should you be interested in this software? Well, I thought the same at first, but once I thought about it, I realized I can use this for my novel writing and to organize my research materials. And any book I design with this software can be printed into a real book that you can carry and reference while you are writing. The software is so good the wonderful people at My Memories have decided to offer one Software Download for FREE to one of my readers here at my blog!

To enter, simply do one of the following:

-Visit My Memories Website and choose a favorite layout from their gallery, then tell me what you chose with comment on this post.

-Like My Memories and Realmwalkers on facebook and tell me you did in a comment on this post.

-Follow the My Memories Blog and leave a comment on this post saying you did!

Winner will be drawn Thursday July 31, 2014.

If you don't win or just can't wait, then how about a special discount just being one of my readers? Use the code STMMMS34133 to automatically receive $10 off your purchase of this software!
 Just go to My Memories.com and enter the number for your discount and start downloading this popular scrapbooking program. 
 

Here are a few layouts that I just created with My Memories!

Put your notes, mind maps, research information, charts, etc...

Add all your character sheets and sketches.

Add all your maps so that they are in one place for quick reference.

And don't forget, you can have all these professionally printed into a one of several size hard-cover books or just keep them as ebooks on your computer. Other ways you can use this software is for your blogs, world-building, book signing flyers and invites, book event ads, ebook samples and other promotional materials. The list goes on! Still not sure you can figure out how to use this creative program? No problem. Check out this link for a series of My Memories Suite tutorials.

Still want to learn more? Then check out these links. You have till July 31st
to get your very own FREE My Memories digital scrap booking program.
 
My Memories Blog- http://blog.mymemories.com/
Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/MyMemories/140359372717593
Twitter- http://twitter.com/#!/mymemoriessuite



Use the code STMMMS34133 to get $10 off instantly! 

My Experience with KDP Select

Now that I am feeling stronger and healthier, I am happy to be back at my laptop to write about my plans to leave Kindle's Direct Publishing Select when it comes up for renewal at the end of this month. I am still using Kindle Direct Publishing for selling my books as Kindle ebooks but KDP Select is a program by KDP as a way to help ebook authors promote their works. It sounded like a great program to try out with my novella, The Priestess and the Ravenknight (P&R). By signing up and promising to sell P&R exclusively through KDP Select offered the follow (copied from their site) :
1. Earn higher royalties and earn your share of the KDP Select Global Fund amount when readers borrow your books from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. Plus, earn 70% royalty for sales to customers in Japan, India, Brazil and Mexico.
2. Maximize my book's potential by using their two promotional options: Kindle Countdown Deals, time-bound promotional discounting for your book while earning royalties; or Free Book Promotion where readers worldwide can get your book free for a limited time.
3. Help readers discover your books by making them available through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library and reach the growing number of Amazon Prime customers in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, and Japan. 

It was all free and so I thought to give it a try. I filled out the forms and entered appropriate key words and categories that best described my book. I began spreading the word via emails and social networks. I spoke about it with my fellow writers locally and some of them also tried it. I did several free promotions and even tried the Kindle Countdown deal for a short time. 

All with very limited success. 

I'm not going to grumble or complain about KDP. Amazon did as they promised. I had no problems with them. I can only guess that I haven't marketed enough or correctly. If they did any promoting of my novella, I never saw it. I never got email promos or ads about my ebook so I am not even sure if anyone did.  I tried a email campaign service also and it helped a little. My download numbers were a meer few hundred at best. So how can readers try out my book if they don't know about it? How can KDP Prime members borrow the book if their can't find it. Heck, I couldn't find it without using the URL I copied and saved. My novella was buried or lost where it was difficult to find amongst so many many other ebooks available at Amazon KDP.  During my second enrollment I tried other keywords and categories and kept promoting as I could without driving my friends and the public crazy.  I created my author profile also and keep blog ads linked to Amazon. My marketing budget is very limited and without using a professional service, I can only expect what I got.

The result was most disappointing and I've decided that when my enrollment in KDP Select is up on Jan 31st, I will quit the program. I have 3 more promotion days to offer my ebook, The Priestess and the Ravenknight, for free. You're invited to download it tomorrow, Jan. 12th through Tuesday, Jan. 14th.

Remember this is only my experience with KDP Select. I am sure there are other writers out there that have done very well with the program and got a lot of downloads which turned into sales after the promotion was over. If this has happened to you, I welcome any advice or suggestions on you did it that resulted in many downloads and sales. What kind of marketing did you use? How long did you use it? What days did you promote your book? What kind of keywords or categories did you use?

Once I am done with KDP Select, I will turn P&R into an Epub ebook and begin marketing it and selling it at various online sites independently. I may even put it into CD form and sell it at book signings. It's time to plan my next move as I continue to sell both Realmwalkers and P&R this new year. 

And now that I am doing better, it's time to get to back to work on my next book.

I look forward to your comments and reviews of The Priestess and the Ravenknight, free tomorrow through Tuesday at Amazon Kindle.

Keep on writing! Don't give up!

10 Tips for Holiday Book Events and Craft Fairs

The season has been good for me. I've been attending several events and have sold quite a few books thanks to the generous "snow birds" who are visiting our fair city. Travelers are great people to promote to. On those long quiet road trips, it's always nice to have either a good movie or a novel to pass the time. And many tourists have the means to attend the local social events that our city has during the holidays. We treasure their patronage and loyalty when they come to visit here for a few months. It's a great time to get out and meet people. Everyone is so nice and a future buyer may become a good friend because of this. With this in mind, I would like to share a few tips on how to do some selling for the winter holidays.

1. Remember to always carry at least a dozen postcards, book markers or brochures on you everywhere you go. You never know who you may meet someone at a restaurant or store that might be interested in your latest book. Get a feel for their interest and if it's not enthusiastic, let it go and smile anyway. Never pressure anyone.

2. Plan your book signings in good time and don't be shy about doing at least two such events if the store allows it. Talk with the Book Manager about it. I did one at Hastings Bookstore last month and I plan another book event before the "snow birds" head back home in the spring.

3. Carry at least two of each book in your car, if that's possible. I know some of you have a great number of books. I only have two so far. Keep them in a clean tote bag or carrying case. Make sure you have a pen in that bag also, so you can autograph the book if they want that. I've sold books at restaurants, stores, doctor waiting rooms and even my dentist office.

4. Promote your book events at the city's web calendars and contact the local Chamber of Commerce for any help on locating clubs and organizations you can contact for a book signing. Don't forget your social  networks like G+, Facebook and Twitter.

5. I mentioned craft fairs above and I have found out that lots of Christmas Craft Fairs welcome you if you are an indie author. Many let you keep all your earnings even if they require a payment for registering as a vendor to the event. Speak to some of the other vendors. They can tell you when the next event is going to take place so you can decide if you want to do that also.

6. Dress nice and smile a lot. Shake their hands and introduce yourself. It takes courage and it can be stressful, but if you don't try, people will walk right past you as if you were never there. If they answer "No thanks. I came for something else." Keep smiling and wish them a good day.

7. Take at least one bottle of water and bring a clear plastic candy jar loaded with wrapped mints and chocolate M&M's or mini size bars. Offer the sweets to any customer and their kids. They might take a look at your books and crafts long enough for you to do your pitch.

8. Never forget to thank every person who buys your book and make sure they know about your blog and where they can reach you if they have any questions. Have business cards ready for this. Have a notebook handy in your bag and ask for their emails so you can contact them about your next book.

9. Join the local Writer's Group in your city and network with them. It's a great way to make new friends and writers help each other with critiques and advice. Mine is exceptional and I still see them whenever I can.

10. Consider signing up for a credit card app/swiper for your smartphone/iphone/tablet. I haven't had much need for one yet, but some people prefer to buy with their credit cards and you might lose a sale because you can only accept cash or checks.

I hope these tips help you. There is so much more to learn so do your homework and study the latest marketing techniques from books and articles at the library or online. I have been doing this for a few years and they have worked for me. I am sure you might have some good tips of your own. Please leave a comment of what you do to sell your books that might help other writers. I welcome all ideas as we work to spread the word about our literary creations.

Merry Christmas!
EV Medina

Worldbuilding and Tiaera

A good friend of mine asked me the other day about the term "world building." I briefly explained it to him, but this morning I have decided to look into this a little deeper for those of you who read and/or write fiction. This might be useful should you ever decide to try making a fictional world of your own.

What is Worldbuilding?

Worldbuilding is the process of constructing an imaginary world, sometimes associated with a whole fictional universe.^[1] The resulting world may be called a constructed world. The term "worldbuilding" was popularized at science fiction writers' workshops in the 1970s.^{[citation needed]} Developing an imaginary setting with coherent qualities such as a history, and ecology is a key task for many science fiction or fantasy writers.^[2] Worldbuilding often involves the creation of maps, a backstory, and people for the world. Constructed worlds can enrich the backstory and history of fictional works, and it is not uncommon for authors to revise their constructed worlds while completing its associated work. Constructed worlds can be created for personal amusement and mental exercise, or for specific creative endeavors such as novels, video games, or role-playing games. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World-building

I have seen the term spelled a few difference ways i.e. world building, world-building and worldbuilding.

When Jack and I began writing our novel Realmwalkers, we realized we needed to make a fictional world because this would free us from any problems with reality based on earth and earth's history. We could start from scratch and use anything our minds came up with so long as it was plausible in the minds of our future readers. Since we wrote about science fiction and fantasy, it behooved us to try this in order to present our story in the most realistic way.

Well, Realmwalkers was finally written and has done very well in sales so far. I created this blog about the world of Tiaera to help promote the book. As some of you may have caught on, I came up with the name "Tiaera" which sounds like the Spanish word "tierra" meaning earth or ground. It is a parallel earth with trees, mountains and oceans, but with some differences. What are they? Well, read some of the stories here or read Realmwalkers to find out. Anyway, I realized I really enjoyed adding more details about this fictional planet called Tiaera.

And I am not alone. There are many sites on the Inet where one can go visit a variety of worlds based on books, TV, and games.

The way I started with Tiaera was by making a series of maps using MSPublisher, a desktop graphics program. I didn't have the luxury of a stylus and tablet at that time. Every drawing had to be done by drawing with a normal mouse or by drawing the map, scanning it and enhancing it using Adobe Photoshop. One of my first maps of the new planet looked like this.

I never made a world before so I just made little chunks of outlines to represent countries and Jack helped me determine how big it was going to be so that it made sense to the reader. It turned out it is actually smaller than earth, more like mars. Thanks again, Jack, for helping me with the technicalities of worldbuilding.

Then I experienced the fun of assigning names, much like Adam did when earth was created, and I found it was a lot of fun. I went to various fantasy name generators and tossed around some made-up names with Jack until all the oceans, countries, and islands all had a name. This was really fun to do while I waited for Jack to go over some chapters at his end.  Once I had the world done, I began to work on each continent.

There is no end to what you can do when it comes to worldbuilding. Many stories, movies, books and games can limit the amount of information about the world to just a few sentences or go all the way to graphic images and videos. It's up to the author or designer involved. Just remember that too much scenery and description shouldn't overwhelm the story at hand. Use just enough to set the scene and no more.

After the maps were done, I created lists of information about races, transportation, climate, languages and prominent landmarks. I used my previous experiences in games like D&D, Meridian 59 and Everquest 1 & 2. I also used recollections from the many sci fi-fantasy stories and movies. There is nothing wrong with stealing general ideas from others as long as you do not steal a copyright protected character or item. So be sure you research whatever you use that you did not fully create yourself.

I'm glad to have this blog now to further create more stories and invent new items through my creative abilities. I still don't use any special map-making software. I have looked at Dungeonjinni and ProFantasy Software, as well as others, but I decided to use the tools I already had. I still use pencil, ink, scanner, MSPublisher and Adobe Photoshop for maps and graphics. Such graphics may help me with future books or videos. It's a creative process that I really enjoy.

If you are thinking about worldbuilding, here are a few links that might help or inspire you. I've used a few of them for creating the world of Tiaera:

Seventh Sanctum
Pirate Name Generator
io9.com
World Building School
sfwa fantasy-worldbuilding questions
Free Fantasy Maps
Map Making for Authors
Wikipedia

New Extended Realmwalkers Video

I just created a new version of my original Realmwalkers video. After some editing and a few extra pictures, I came up with this. I hope you like this better. A special thanks to my friend, Vince, for his help with "Quality Control."  I owe you a Starbucks, buddy!

Realmwalkers is on sale at Amazon.com!

I just found out that Realmwalkers has a special promo price now! Not sure how the folks at Amazon.com came to the new price, but it went from $18.95 to $17.06. That's almost two dollars off! If you have been waiting for the price on this novel to go down, now is the time to take advantage. 

Here are some of the testimonies I have been getting:

It's easy reading..meaning it's a fun story, interesting characters and it's not this deep reading that I have to keep reading each line over and over to understand. Some books are full of such verbose sentences/paragraphs that I get lost halfway through and have to start the sentence over again. The characters are familiar so I can picture them so easily, which is awesome! - Maryanne of Riverside CA

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Done with the book! Awesome! I liked it very much! Now you need to write a sequel with new adventures of Hilo, Felucia, Alain... need I go on??!! I want more!! Sequel! Sequel! Sequel!  - Amanda of Lake Havasu, AZ
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I've really enjoyed reading "Realmwalkers". I've read it more than once and continue to become imersed in the story and enthralled by it's cast of characters. It has a lot to enjoy: Heros and Villians from another planet, pirates, Elves and Gnomes, romance, battles on land and sea, a snowball fight and a beautiful Goddess.
The only problem I have with the book is that there is no sequel
Something for everyone to like. Give it a read. - Vince of Hamilton, OH

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The author has me drawn into the story and I feel as if I am actually there, living this saga. The drawings are magnificent! I anticipate every moment, and can't wait for the next chapter to unfold!!  - Pauline of Hawley, PA

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I really enjoyed this story. The characters were well developed and interesting. The settings were described in enough detail to give me a good visual image, but not overly described. The conflicts were believable and urgent enough to keep me engaged to the end. I definitely recommend this book.  - Layne of Lake Havasu, AZ

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What an exciting book with lots of great adventure and fun. Look out Harry Potter! This is the next up-and-coming new series. Would like to see it made into a movie. - Michele of Lake Havasu, AZ  

Another Freebie Weekend!

The two day promotion last weekend just didn't seem to be long enough. I have met with friends who missed out on the event and wanted to download my new ebook. For those of you that still want to get a free copy of my ebook novella, The Priestess and the Ravenknight, please click on the link below and it will take you straight to the Amazon webpage where you can get it for FREE.today, tomorrow and Sunday! It's supposed to be available all day long from midnight to midnight. Make sure you are paying ZERO cents when you purchase the ebook there.  Some of you may have bought this ebook before, but this is the latest version with a new graphic and it's now seven chapters long instead of five. 

http://www.amazon.com/The-Priestess-Ravenknight-ebook/dp/B00B9EQS2K

FREE Today, tomorrow and Sunday!

I realize not all of you will have a Kindle, but Amazon.com does offer a free app here Free App for non-Kindles  With this app you can read your ebook on a PC, laptop, Ipad, Iphone, etc...

Enjoy the ebook and please please please review it at Amazon! Have a great weekend!

KABAM Book Festival

Now that we are in spring and the snow birds are leaving our fair city in droves, it is time for one more major book signing event in the city of Kingman (about an hour's drive from here).  Kelley and I (as well as other members of the LHCWG) are driving up there to attend the event again this year. There will be lots of authors to rub shoulders with, food, entertainment and one more chance to promote Realmwalkers before the heat turns my attention to swimming and writing indoors.

The festival lasts for days, but we will be up there next Saturday,  April 6th from 11AM - 4PM. 

Mark your calendars! If you are in the area, stop by!

Metcalf Park

315 West Beale Street
Kingman, AZ 86401

Community: Kingman
 

View Map | Get Directions

KABAM Book Festival Info and Event Schedule

Blog Interview & Hastings Book Signing

Hello friends!

It's been a very busy month with several book signings in the area. The next one is at Hastings Books, Videos and Music next Saturday from 11 - 3PM. This is the Lake Havasu Store located at 321 Lake Havasu Ave. N.  (928) 680-7272. I will be signing copies of Realmwalkers and promoting my new ebook, The Priestess and the Ravenknight. Stop by to visit with me, ask questions and get out of hot mid-day heat at Hastings this Saturday. Is it summer already? Really? What happened to spring?  Hahah!!

I have also been invited to Virginia Nelson's Guardian's Hangout blog when she posted an author's interview about me. If you wish to see it click here: Guardian's Hangout  I hope you find it interesting and inspiring. Virginia also resides in Arizona. Maybe one day we can meet in person. She seems like a very busy lady and is currently doing a blog hop this month.

Keep on writing and stay in touch!

My First Video!

I have been meaning to do this ever since Realmwalkers was published but was worried about the cost of the service. Well, time has passed and so this morning, I have saved some book money to see about getting a video made. During my web search this morning, I discovered a service called Stupeflix.com. I looked around the site and decided to try it.

After trying so many different programs in editing, graphics, ebooks and publishing, I dreaded the problems and frustration I was about to endure with this video creation service. But there was none of that at all! I LOVED IT!  It was easy to learn and I was making my video in no time. This took me a couple of hours to make, but it because I wanted to take the time to be creative and have fun with it. I highly recommend anyone to try Stupeflix if you're thinking about getting started with video creations. You can always upgrade and move on to more complicated programs later.

If you want to try them out, you get a free HD video when you register. Please use my referral link if you read my post and want to check them out: http://bit.ly/13YzwOq  Thanks!