Why I Love Being Indie - Blog Hop

Hello readers!

I decided to join in on this Blog Hop created by Christina L. Rozelle about being indie. Being an indie author is not all fun and games; it's a lot of work. But as an indie author, you definitely have some perks!

This is the main reason I love being indie.
I have 100% control over my book.
Since no third party is involved with my book, I succeed or fail on my own. I can make my story how I want, and as long or short as I wish.

It is easy to be discouraged in this industry, and you have to work hard just to get a few sales every month. It may feel like the world is against you, but you're not going to be a best seller over night. And if you are, can you tell me your secret? Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that it's amazing to watch your work grow over time.

Being indie is publishing on a more personal level.
Getting to connect with other authors through #IndieBooksBeSeen is another wonderful part of being indie. Not only do I love it, but I feel that this is an important time to be indie.

Thanks for reading, and write on!

Please follow the link and check out Part one of Christina L. Rozelle's blog!

https://clrozelle.wordpress.com/2014/12/08/10-things-that-suck-and-rock-about-being-an-indie-author-part-1/

Check out my Witch In The Woods trilogy on these great sites!

Witch In The Woods trilogy on Amazon

Witch In The Woods trilogy on B&N

Witch In The Woods on CreateSpace

Witch In The Woods on Smashwords

Don't forget to like my Facebook page, and follow me on Twitter and Goodreads to stay updated!

My author page on Facebook

@ann_bunker on Twitter

Taylor Ann Bunker on GoodReads

Black Friday & an Indie Giveaway!

Welcome back!

I'm writing a little blog post to ask you all to help me spread the word of fantastic news! This Friday and for the whole Black Friday weekend, my eBooks are going to be 99 cents apiece!

This is your chance to get the entire trilogy for a great deal!

Also, please check out the #IndieBooksBeSeen first Secret Santa's Indie Book Giveaway!

My first book, Witch In The Woods, is included in the giveaway, and you could win a copy of my, or any of these other author's great books!

You have to be 13 years of age or older to enter, and the drawing is on December 15! So get in on the action, and see if Santa will be gifting you with an indie surprise! Follow the link below to enter!

Secret Santa's Indie Book Giveaway!

Please help spread the word of this Giveaway, and of my Black Friday sale! Ebooks make great gifts, whether its a gift for a friend, or yourself! What could be better than a wonderful fantasy series for a present?

I am very excited about both of these things, and I want to thank you all right now for your help! Thanks for spreading the word!

Thanks for reading!

Check out my books on these great sites!

Witch In The Woods trilogy on Amazon

Witch In The Woods trilogy on B&N

Witch In The Woods on CreateSpace

Witch In The Woods on Smashwords

Don't forget to like my Facebook page, and follow me on Twitter and Goodreads to stay updated!

My author page on Facebook

@ann_bunker on Twitter

Taylor Ann Bunker on GoodReads

How I Made A Book Trailer

Welcome back,

A while ago I made a book trailer for Witch In The Woods. It was actually fun and easy too! Did I mention I did it for free?

I decided I should make a trailer for my book after reading blogs by other indie authors. A few of which claimed that stupelix.com was the best place to go as a free option. After checking out the site, I found that they did have free options, however, for what I had planned, I would have had to pay to make my video.

Sure, I could spend the few bucks to achieve my vision... Or, I could check out what other sights had to offer.

Research pays off! I decided that YouTube was the best option. You can either make your video through their creator studio, which works wonderfully, but then you can only choose from the music which they provide, which wouldn't have been bad if I was making a video for a modern times novel.

Then I found a way that I could make my video and use the music my brother had mixed special for it, and download it to YouTube! All I had to do was make my video with Windows Movie Maker. The whole process was easy too!

Before you can just dive into making your book trailer, you first have to figure out what you want to tell your potential readers. You must give the main point to the book, what genre and age range is it intended for, and where they can purchase, if they so desire.

I began by making notes on what I wanted in the video.

Since this is a trailer, it is very important to keep your video short.

Viewers do not want to spend more that 2 minutes watching a book trailer. This is the video synopsis of your book, so don't tell the whole story. Your goal is to make your viewers want to know more.
I decided to put in bits of Victor's journal entries to add a sense of mystery.

When making your video, use pictures you own. Don't just download any picture off of Google. Those picture may be copyrighted, so you do not want to use them without permission. I recruited my mom and my sister to go around town with me, to take our own pictures. You can even buy pictures, online, or purchase public domain pictures if you can't take them yourself.

When you have your pictures, put them in the order you want them to appear in the video. Since you will have text with most of your pictures, make sure you give each picture enough view time. You want to make sure everyone has enough time to read it!

At the end of your trailer, as I mentioned earlier, tell viewers what genre and age group your book is intended for. Inform them where they can purchase it, and don't forget to give the title and your name! It is a good idea to add the cover of your book, so they know what to look for!

Here is my book trailer:

Thanks for reading, and as always, keep writing!

Interested in a fantastic Dark Fantasy read? My book are available on these great sites as an ebook, or as a beautiful paperback!

Witch In The Woods trilogy on Amazon

Witch In The Woods trilogy on B&N

Witch In The Woods on CreateSpace

Witch In The Woods on Smashwords

Don't forget to like my Facebook page, and follow me on Twitter and Goodreads to stay updated!

My author page on Facebook

@ann_bunker on Twitter

My author profile in Goodreads

Writing A Synopsis

Greetings!

About a week before the release of my latest book, Witch In The Woods: Blood Moon Ritual, I realized that I had forgotten something crucial... My least favorite part of any book to write, but it is the most important as well. The synopsis. There are some writers out there who write their synopsis first, and build their story around it. I, on the other hand, wait until the last possible second to write it. 

Here are some tips that help me when writing the dreaded synopsis!

How many books have you decided not to read, just because the synopsis didn't capture your attention? The first line in your summery is your hook. That is the part which must catch the potential reader's attention. If the first line in your synopsis isn't catching, that possible reader will most likely put it down.

Some books I personally can't even get through the whole summery, which is terrible, because as an author, I would hate for that to happen to my books. Here is the problem: if I, an author and avid reader, can't even get through the synopsis, then how are other readers supposed to? You have a good book waiting to be read, you just need to find the right hook.

I find it helpful to have examples, so I look at the summery to other books to give me an idea on how to write my own. It kick starts the brain storming process! Remember to include the important things in your synopsis.You want the readers to know what your story is about, and to draw them in enough to want to read your book. What's the main plot? Who is/are your characters? What are your characters trying to achieve, and what do they risk losing if they fail?

As an example, here is the synopsis to my first book, Witch in the Woods.


When twenty year old, professional witch hunter, Victor Steep is summoned to handle a case; he travels to the town of Beth's Hollow to find residing in the vast woods surrounding the town, a witch with a deadly obsession.

In the woods, Victor meets a mysterious and beautiful lady named Clearly, and her kind, but cursed brother Fabian. Promising that he will look for a cure for her brother, Victor soon questions if he can keep that promise, for killing the malicious witch he was hired to hunt, became more complicated than expected. In order to defeat the witch, Victor now must find a book that has been missing for nearly twenty years, or risk the fate of Clearly, Fabian, and the entire town of Beth's Hollow. Not to mention, if he should fail, losing the possession of his very own skull to the witch's disturbing collection.


As my first summery, I am very happy with how it turned out! It let's the reader know that Victor hunt's witches for a living, and is risking his very life to save Clearly, her brother, and the town of Beth's Hollow.

What do you think, are you ready to write your synopsis?

Thanks for reading, and keep writing!

Feel free to check out my Witch In The Woods Trilogy!

WITW on Amazon

WITW on B&N

WITW paperback on CreateSpace

WITW on Smashwords

Don't forget to like my Facebook page, and follow me on Twitter and Goodreads to stay updated!

My author page on Facebook

@ann_bunker on Twitter

My author profile in Goodreads

Blood Moon Ritual

Welcome back readers!

Last time, I did the cover reveal, so now is a good time to inform you all that Witch In The Woods: Blood Moon Ritual is now available for pre-order on Amazon!
It will be available in paperback and eBook format on October 28!

If you are not caught up on the story, now is the perfect time to get your eBook! Why? Because until November 1st, Witch In The Woods and Witch In The Woods: Clearly's Corruption are only $0.99 on Amazon and the Barnes and Noble website.

If you buy Witch In The Woods in paperback through Amazon, you can get the digital copy for free!

(I wish I could say the same for Clearly's Corruption, but I made an oopsie on CreateSpace... I blame my natural blond-ness...)

Please join in the excitement and spread the word! And if your are interested, check out this exciting series! 

My books on Amazon!

Witch In The Woods & Clearly's Corruption for the nook!

Thanks for reading! I'll be back soon with some more writing tips!

Have a great weekend!

Please like my Facebook page, follow me on Twitter, and friend me on Goodreads!

My FB author page!

@ann_bunker on Twitter!

Friend me on Goodreads!

Cover Reveal!

Welcome back!

My book Witch In The Woods: Blood Moon Ritual will be released on October 28, which is approaching fast! You all have yet to seen the cover art for the final book in the trilogy, so here you go!

What do you think? I made the book cover myself (Believe it or not. Do you see that moon? I still can't believe I did that!) and I am so thrilled with how it turned out. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I am proud of it! So proud, I could cry! *sniff, sniff* Could someone hand me a tissue?

Alright, enough with the sniffles! I am sure you all would love to read the summery.

The Blood Moon is near…

                                                                         And so is the end…

Victor and his friends face more dangers as they race against time to collect the remaining items for the ritual, and cure Valeri before the full moon.

Will their meeting with Athanasius reveal the Witch’s name? Complications arise as Fabian appears to accept his curse, and Clearly grows weaker with each passing day, making Victor question if there will be a ritual after all… And if there is, will the Witch succeed?

Blood Moon Ritual will be available as an ebook and in paperback in just over a week!
If you aren't caught up on the story, now is the perfect time! Follow the links below, and engage in the magic! Plus, it is a perfect read for the Halloween season!

Witch In The Woods on Amazon

Witch In The Woods on B&N

Witch In The Woods on CreateSpace

Witch In The Woods on Smashwords

Don't forget to like my Facebook page, and follow me on Twitter and Goodreads to stay updated!

My author page on Facebook

@ann_bunker on Twitter

My author profile in Goodreads


Thanks for reading, and as always, keep writing!

Common Typos in Published Books

Welcome back!

It has been a while since I have blogged, but I've been on crunch time, wrapping up my third and final book in the Witch In The Woods trilogy: Blood Moon Ritual. Now I that I have a bit of free time, I thought I would talk about common problems I found while editing!

While reading books by other authors, and editing my own book, I have realized how common these mistakes are, and came up with new tips to share! Every writer can always use tips! Even if you already know them, it's always good to be refreshed! These are based off things I am still working on, and things I have noticed in other published books, most of which are homophones. I call them common typos.

When you're in the writing zone, fingers typing at full speed, it is easy to over look these common mistakes, not realizing you have made them. When you are self editing your work, here are some things to look for.

Then means: after that, afterward, next...

Than is a word that expresses or introduces an exception or contrast.

I accidentally swap these two words on a weekly basis! Then and than are the most common typos I have noticed in published works.

Where is a place or position.

Were is a past word for be.

Yet I still manage to confuse the two. I find that sometimes I'll either add an unnecessary h to were, or forget it in where. We all get crazy fingers when typing.

Their is possessive, meaning; belonging to, or associated with.

They're is short for: they are.

There has a few meanings: In, at, or to a place or position. To attract someone's attention, or to draw attention to something. To express annoyance, or to comfort someone.

No wonder these words are commonly used wrong! Too many homophones make it confusing! When I first started writing, I was terribly confused with these words. It was hard for me to remember which one meant what. Other published authors also appear to have this problem, so it's pretty common, I would say. I used to keep a note with the words' and their correct definitions.

Know means: to be aware of.

Now means; at this present moment, and is used to draw attention to a particular statement.

No is a negative answer or decision.

I also get these two words below mixed with each other.

Knew is the past tense of know.

New means: Not existing before, recently made or discovered, just experienced, etc...

I especially had issues with know and now in my latest book. Mostly because I kept adding an unnecessary k. I made sure to pay close attention to these words while editing!

Which is a word that asks for information, or refers to something previously mentioned.

Witch is a woman believed to have evil magical powers, thought to wear black, rides a broom, and has a pointed hat.

It is no secret that I love witch's, so some might think I would be offended if someone mixed up the spelling. That is not how I roll, in fact, I often write witch when I mean to write which.

All of these words are heavily used, and can be easily looked over by the author while editing. Homophones can be tricky, but if you know what to look for, you can catch those errors and be more conscious of them in future writing projects!

Thank you for reading, and keep on writing!

My Witch In The Woods series is available in both paperback and ebook!
Feel free to click the links below and check them out!

Amazon
CreateSpace
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords

Don't forget to like my Facebook page, and follow me on Twitter and Goodreads to get updates!

Taylor Ann Bunker on Facebook

@ann_bunker on Twitter

My author profile on Goodreads

IA: Initiate

Welcome back!

I have another book review for you... In under a week too!

IA: Initiate by John Darryl Winston

Genre: YA Supernatural Thriller

Naz Anderson is a seemingly normal 13 year old boy, with secrets even he is unaware of.

He tries to keep out of the way at his foster parent's home, but unfortunately walks in his sleep, and hear's voices in his head. He's protective of his little sister, and wants to go unnoticed in school, however, on the mean streets of America, this attracts the attention of the gang Incubus Apostles... After an act of gang violence one morning on his way to school, Naz tries to keep out of their reach, and find answers surrounding the deaths of his parents, while uncovering his supernatural abilities. With a violent gang after him, the only way Naz can survive is to unlock his supernatural abilities.

IA: Initiate certainly lives up to its name. This book is the start of something big...

Events of the past are filtered throughout the book, making readers wonder how things turned out the way they did. With the clever use of dreams, John Darryl Winston shows us what happened in Naz's past, making your heart ache for him and his sister.

Winston has a way to call forth your emotions, and make you question if you could survive everything Naz has gone through, which I would be glad to never find out. With mysteries to uncover, and finding the courage to overcome the evils that are after you, this hard to put down book is a great start to what is going to be an even greater series. I look forward to seeing what else John Darryl Winston has in store for us.

This style of book is different from what I normally read, but it is always good to branch out! I am giving this book four out of five stars.

Happy reading, everyone!

Feel free to check out my book, Witch In The Woods in paperback on creatspace and Amazon!

Or get a sample chapter of my series on Smashwords!

Have a nook? My books are on the Barnes and Noble website too!

For the nook!

If you like my blog, please add me to your circles! I'll add you back.

Please like my author page on Facebook! Send me the link to your's and I'll return the favor.
Don't forget to follow me on Twitter and friend me on goodreads!

Thanks for reading!

Flight of the Vessel

Welcome, readers!

It has been awhile since I last reviewed a book, but here it is at last!

Part One: Flight of the Vessel (Vision Dream Series Book 1) by Robert Clifton Storey Jr.
Genre: epic YA Fantasy.

Set in a medieval fantasy world, the princess of Palzintine, Angelterra finds that on her nineteenth birthday, the peaceful existence she has always known is torn from her grasp, as the evil one took away her homeland and killed her family.

Angelterra and her young lady knight, Jeela, flee Palzintine and are constantly hunted by monstrous beasts and dark agents of the evil one, Shutharja. With no home, parents, and no thrown, Angelterra must stay strong and inspire her exiled people in order to keep hope alive, that they and their allies can resist the menace that threatens all the kingdoms of the world.

This fantasy has a religious theme, many feasts, and magic of both varieties. (Light and dark magic)

For a free eBook, this one is well written, and with all the hard names, I was impressed that there were no typos. Those who enjoy a good fantasy would surely enjoy this one, especially if they're into magic, strong and brave women, wizards, and a war between good and evil.

While reading, I often found myself wishing that history books could be written like this. Then I might have done better with American history in school...

Like other books, this one did lag throughout different parts of the story, (like history class) but you learn the history of many things in their world. For a while there, I seriously thought I would give this book a three out of five star rating. But then I reached the last few chapters...

Pretending that I was princess Angelterra while reading these last chapters, I was intrigued and hurt, but forgiving under the circumstances.

If you want to know why, you need to download the free eBook from amazon!

Like I mentioned earlier, I planned on giving it three stars, but things changed... I am giving Part One: Flight of the Vessel four out of five stars!


Now go read a good book!


Feel free to check out my book, Witch In The Woods in paperback on creatspace and Amazon!

Or get a sample chapter of my series on Smashwords!

Have a nook? My books are on the Barnes and Noble website too!

For the nook!

If you like my blog, please add me to your circles! I'll add you back.

Please like my author page on Facebook! Send me the link to your's and I'll return the favor.
Don't forget to follow me on Twitter and friend me on goodreads!

Thanks for reading!

Characters

Welcome back!

I thought it would be a good time to go over characters. How hard could it be to create one?

It's only a fictional person after all.
Well, it is more in depth than think...

It is not as simple as giving your character a name and face. You can't have flat characters if you want your readers to care for them. You must give your character a back-story, emotions, personality. What do they desire? What is their goal? What is their breaking point? Etc, etc. These are important elements of character creation. If you can give your characters depth, your readers will have an emotion connection with them.

Keeping a writing journal can help. In my journal, I have a page for each character in my Witch In The Woods series. It helps me keep them separate and also to remember certain facts or aspects about them. It can be a forum, questionnaire, or even a resume if you prefer.
Below are the main questions I ask my characters.

• Name:
• Date of Birth:        Age:
• Appearance:
• Occupation:
• Life story:

These, I feel, are the important questions. Their future can change on a whim, but the past can never change. (Unless they are time travelers, I suppose)

Recently I read a fantasy in which the characters are at war with a Dark Wizard. One character told a story about a wizard whose parents died when the wizard and his brother were very young. All they had were each other. As they grew older, the younger brother succumb to the Dark Wizard, despite his efforts to save him...

A couple pages later, the wizard's story was continued. The wizard had left his brother and had not heard from him in many years. One day, the wizard was contacted by his brother, who told him that their mother had fallen gravely ill...

What? They just said she died when they were young! Did she magically come back to life? These were my personal thoughts... I have to shake my head and laugh.

The point to this little story is plane:

Though it was only a small part of the book, it did concern the plot. I am sure that many who read the book will not notice, but there are those who love to pick a book apart. Other than that, the book was very well written.

You don't want to fumble the ball with something as silly as this, so that is why I feel a journal is an important addition to your writing arsenal. All it does is help.

Happy writing everyone!


Feel free to check out Witch In The Woods in paperback on creatspace and Amazon!

Or get a sample chapter of my series on Smashwords!

Have a nook? My books are on the Barnes and Noble website too!

For the nook!

If you like my blog, please add me to your circles! I'll add you back.

Please like my author page on Facebook! Send me the link to your's and I'll return the favor.
Follow me on Twitter and friend me on goodreads.

Thanks for reading!

Being a Writer

Welcome back,

As writers, we know what our job entails. We know to write a book, we first need to get an idea. It could be anything. The idea for a book could come from a quote, music, art, or even a person you saw at the local super market. It doesn't matter where came from, as long as you got the idea. Now all that is left is to put pen to paper. More accurately, fingers to keyboard.

The process of writing a book is different for everyone. What works for one does not always work for another.

Being in the writing business, you have probably been told that writing a book is easy. They expect you to crank them out! People are expecting quantity from you, but what you really need to focus on is quality.

We all know that the more books you have, the more people will take you seriously as an author. Don't let that bother you, take your time with it.

Here is some great advice from an author everyone knows, and will hopefully show what being a writer is like.

I love this quote, because it's true for everyone, and not just writers.

Many people think that writers have it easy. All you have to do is sit and write, right?
They don't know what it is like, all they have to do is read the book. You have to research things, know what genre your are writing, is it historical or futuristic? You need to create characters that you pray others will find believable, likable, or hate with a passion. Creating a back story for these characters is essential. Not to mention creating a plot and setting for these characters to live in. You need to delve deep and unlock secrets of this new place in your mind.

When you have this sorted out, the writing may begin! There is also the occasional writers block, where you will stare at the screen for hours, hoping that something will spark and you can start writing again. Other times, you will be in the writing zone, your fingers typing away full bore!

After you write the book, you have to revise and edit, revise and edit again. If you can, find a willing participant to go over it for you and see if you've missed anything (The odds are, you have). After your work is published, then comes the criticism. It will either lift your spirit or crush your soul. But all is useful in the end.

I know I have written about this before, but I can't stress enough how important it is to promote your book! Which is a full time job on its own. (Hopefully you have been promoting your book before it was published, so people will actually be looking for it.) You need to join all the social media sites, send out daily messages, (several tweets a day for twitter), and build a following. Keep this up, even while writing your next book.

Being an author actually takes work. But the experts say that if you enjoy your job, you never really work a day in your life. Some may think that writers have it easy, but they are just as busy and hard working as everyone else. To be frank, writers never have a day off. Sure, they may take a break from writing, but they are always collecting information, creating knew ideas, and going over their current project, and studying peoples reactions.

Writing is a great and rewarding career, if you don't mind putting in the work!

Carpel tunnel, pains of being a writer! 

Feel free to check out my books in paperback on creatspace and Amazon!

Or get sample chapter of my series on Smashwords!

Have a nook? My books are on the Barnes and Noble website too!

For the nook!

If you like my blog, please add me to your circles! I'll add you back.

Please like my author page on Facebook! Send me the link to your's and I'll return the favor!
Follow me on Twitter and friend me on goodreads.

Thanks for reading!

Guess what?

Hello family, friends, followers, and readers!
(Did I forget anyone?)

I am thrilled to tell you all that...

Witch in the Woods is now in print!
It's nice to see that all the blood, sweat, and and tears paid off! That was a little cliche, but still....

Thanks to createspace.com, I was able to format my book through their magnificent site, and behold! My paperback book was born!

I'm gonna cry!

What motivated me to day this? Well, I have to say it was my last trip to Barnes and Noble. Not the website, but the store. So many books in print...

My book will probably never be on their shelves, but hey, I'm just happy it's in print now!
Another motivator was that I had been having trouble reading some eBooks I've downloaded from amazon, which really made me want to react like this....

Surprising coming from an indie author, right? But the problems I had with the Amazon app appears to have been fixed. YAY! It definitely does not surprise me that it would have some bugs, so I should stop pretending it's the end of the world when something happens...

Here are the links to my paperback!

creatspace and Amazon

Also, the summer eBook sale on Smashwords is almost over! If you want to get Witch In The Woods and Clearly's Corruption for 50% off, use the code SSW50 at the check out! The sale ends July 31!

50% Off on Smashwords!

Have a nook? My books are on the Barnes and Noble website too!

For the nook!

If you like my blog, please add me to your circles! I'll add you back.

Please like my author page on Facebook. Send me the link to your's and I'll return the favor!
Follow me on Twitter and friend me on goodreads.

Thanks for reading! Have a great Sunday!

Inspiration & Fear

Hello once again my lovely readers!

Recently I've been thinking about where I got the inspiration to write my novel Witch In The Woods.
Really, it is the question 'what inspired me to write the short story for school?' It's funny really, for the name of my book was inspired by one of my sister Haley's creative writing titles. Fatal Fall Forest. She came up with it on a whim! I thought it was so cool, I wanted to come up with an awesome sounding title also. I still think it's cool!

I came up with the name Witch In The Woods long before I came up with the plot.

The the plot came while I was writing my story, because I could not wait any longer to get a story out for school. However, I went into the story fearing everything.
What if nobody likes it? What if I'm accused of being a copy-cat? After all, my story had similarities to my sister's. A witch (In her case witches) in a heavily treed setting... But unlike my sister's, mine would be more serious than humorous... Which was strange, because humor was my forte....

Despite all the doubts I had, I couldn't let them stop me. Besides, I didn't want to get an F in my creative writing class.

As I mentioned above, I started writing my story without a plot. As I was writing my short story, I was inspired the Brother's Grimm and the Salem Witch Trials. I also made sure to add a certain name that I new my mom/teacher lady would love in case the story turned out to be no good. Beth's Hollow.

It took me a few days to write the short story of Witch In The Woods, and whenever I got an idea for the story, I would obsess over it until I found something to record my ideas on. Usually a stray piece of paper or my composition notebook.

The hardest part was handing in my story. I didn't want bad criticism on this piece, for I bled part of my heart and soul into it. I was glad to hear that my teacher loved the name Beth's Hollow. *fist pump* My plan worked! Now came the part I was dreading. What did she think of the over all story?

I believe my jaw literally dropped to the floor when I learned she liked it; no, she went wild over it! Witch In The Woods to this day is her favorite story I have ever written. (It's mine, too.)

When I started writing the actual novel, I had many fears again, though this time they were altered. What if it's not as good as the short story? What if this is a mistake? What if it loses that special something that made it good in the first place?

The ending results: More praise and love than my short story received. I was giddy and pleased.

When I wrote the sequel, I loved the story. My only fear was that everyone may not like it. The results were better than the first book.

So now it's time for you to get inspired, and shove fear to the side!

Thank you for reading my post!

Please check out my series, Witch In The Woods on:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
And Smashwords! (Use the code SSW50 at the check out to get it 50% off! Sale ends July 31!)

Don't forget to follow me! I follow back!
Please like my Facebook page, friend me on Goodreads, and follow me on Twitter!

Book Review: Exiled (The Protector, #1)

Welcome back!

Sorry there was no book review last week. I was caught up in reading Exiled by M.R. Merrick.

Another free book I got off on Amazon, the cover, (once again) grabbed me. The fire, the water, the half burnt tree... By the cover, I knew from the get-go it was a fantasy, and hopefully one with action!

I started reading it a while after I got it, having completely forgot what the book was about. I was also to lazy to look it up and read the synopsis, so I went into it blind, which I don't normally do.

When I began reading this book, I knew one thing that I wanted for sure. Action! It did not disappoint.

This book is about Chase Williams, a young demon hunter who was exiled from the Circle with him mom, on his 15th birthday, because he had no elemental power. Those jerks.

Chase has spent the last two years without the Circle's protection, fighting off half demons who've come kill him personally, and helping his mom pay the rent for their shabby apartment. One night, after meeting a frightened and innocent demon, Chase learns that the Circle no longer stays true to their oath to protect the innocent. They have a new, more sinister agenda.

To be honest, this book surprised me. I was not expecting it to be this good! I was on the fence on how many stars to give it. In the end, I decided to give it four stars instead of the full five, because Chase seems to have a problem doing what he's told.
"Don't make a deal with this guy." He does anyway.
"Consult me before you do this." Nope again.
"Don't be rude to him." What? Chase didn't hear ya.

Other than that little issue, the book was great! I recommend it to anyone looking for an action packed, fire filled YA fantasy, with silver daggers, magic, and blood! Oh yes, I said blood! (It's a vampires' dream!)

Happy reading everyone!

Please check out my series Witch In The Woods on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords!
With the code SSW50 you can get my books 50% on Smaswords! The sale lasts all of July!

Don't forget to follow me, I follow back!
Please like my Facebook page!
Follow me on Twitter and friend me on Goodreads!

I Follow, You Follow, I'll Un-follow

Hello!

Last week I talked about building a fan base and gaining followers. This week I thought I would tell you all about my experience with a certain type of follower on Twitter. I am sure this probably happens on other sites as well, but I have only come across this 'egotistic' occurrence on Twitter.

Egotistic?

As I said in my last post: Everyone wants to gain. 
But beware, for there are some people out there who will follow you, and shortly after you follow them back, well... You're history, babe.

These people strike me as, (Excuse me while I try to censor myself) self-interested, greedy, little hobgoblins, who want to gain your support while refusing to assist you in return. (Readers, I beg you! Don't be like this.)

This is my own personal experience with the whole "I follow, you follow, I'll un-follow" situation, on Twitter. I'll give this person an alias, because that's how I roll. I shall call him Bob.

Bob had a professional looking picture, and looked like a happy business man, who was following a pretty substantial amount of people, and had a pretty ridiculous number of followers himself. Wow, he's popular! I digress; he followed me one day, so I followed him back, thinking, "Yay! Another follower!"

This is how they lure you in! The next day, I noticed that I had one less follower than the day prior, so I looked into it. Bob was gone. I heard of people doing this to boost themselves on Twitter and other sites, so I decided that if that's the way he plays, then I am not supporting him. *click* Un-follow!

The next day, Bob was back... I thought, maybe he un-followed me by accident... Seeing how he was my follower again. Great, now I feel bad. So, I decided to re-follow Bob. He stayed a follower for nearly a week before he was gone again. Wow, I had to be something special! Anyway, my jaw dropped. Looking at his page, I realized that he was following thousands less than the first time I looked, yet he still had 100k + followers. Why, that little!... That!!! I'm at a loss for words. You know what they say, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice... Well, know I'm a pro at this game.

That is just one of the stories I have, but I trust that you get the gist. But I offer you all the link to a site that will tell you who is following you, who un-followed you, etc. It is pretty cool, and useful.
Justunfollow.com

Do you have any stories like this? If so, please post them in the comments!
Happy tweeting everyone!

Don't forget to follow me, I follow back!
Please follow me on Twitter!
Like me on Facebook!
And friend me on Goodreads!
Have a Pinterest? I'm on there too!

Check out my Young Adult series Witch in the Woods on
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
And for all of July, my series is 50% off on Smashwords! Just use the code SSW50 when you check out!

Building a Fan Base

Welcome back,

Today I am going over how to build your fan base, and when is a good time to start? I am by no means a master on this subject, and still an avid learner myself, but I am going to share with you what has been working well for me so far.

If you are still writing or just about to start writing your first book, you are in luck! This is the prime time to start! It is never too early to start building your followers. However, if you are like me, then you have already written your book, and didn't think/know you should have been building a fan base before you published... That's okay, many of us do that. Lucky for us 'secretive' people, it is never too late to start either!

Where exactly do you get these followers?

First off, you need to get a Twitter, a Google+ (if you have a gmail, you have a google+ account), and make an author page on Facebook. These are popular social media sites, and you want to get noticed. It is important to remember that you can't just make these accounts and expect others to instantly follow you, unless you're Johnny Depp or someone similar, which is pretty slim. This is a two way thing. If you want people to follow you, you have to follow them. Everyone wants to gain.

Don't follow just anyone. If you are writing Middle Grade books, you don't necessarily want to be following a criminal law lawyer, unless he/she is a big fan of MG reads, or you find them interesting. Follow bloggers, readers/fans of your specified genre, or anyone who interests you.

It's also important to follow others in similar categories as yourself. There is no hope in beating them, nor should even you try. Join your competition! Follow other authors who write the same genres or for the same age range you do. Try to become friend these people, retweet them and promote their stuff. They will be happy to return the favor, assuming they are not snobbish, 'Why should I help out the newbie?' kind of person. I haven't met many, but they are out there. They don't realize this thing is a give and take. But I digress...

If you're not on any sites, then hurry! Get on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Goodreads, Pintrest! The more sites you are on, the more YOU will get noticed. Tweet and post stuff about your book, and be proud that you authored it! Check out other peoples works, and ask if they will check out your's.

Remember that these are social media sites, so you shouldn't be all work and no play! Jack Torrance syndrome is never good...

Any questions? Please post them in the comments! I will try to answer them all!
Know anyone who's trying to become an author? Please share this blog with them!
Don't forget to add me to your circles! I'll add you back!
Thank you for reading!

Check out my Young Adult, Dark Fantasy series Witch in the Woods on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords!
Follow me on Twitter and Facebook! I follow back!
Become a fan and friend me on Goodreads!