IWSG for October 2014

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is the brilliant idea of Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the group is to share doubts and insecurities and to encourage one another. Please visit the other participants and share your support. A kind word goes a long way.

The co-hosts for this month's group are: Kristin Smith, Elsie, Suzanne Furness, and Fundy Blue.

Congratulations to the IWSG website on its one year anniversary! It's an awesome site with a great bunch of writers. It has a lot of advice, tips, and encouragement. Cheers to all of you!

In celebration of the anniversary, IWSG is putting together an anthology - The IWSG Guide to Publishing and Beyond. Everyone can contribute. Entries must be between 200 and 1000 words. If it's less than 300, post it on your blog or FB, and then submit your link to the site HERE. If it's over 300 words, email it directly to the team at TheIWSG@gmail.com. 

The topics can include writing, publishing, and marketing. Give them your best and fresh tips. No recycled posts. The ebook will be out in December.

Here's my contribution about marketing. (250 words)

* * *

 

3 Marketing Tips For Those Who Would Rather Be Writing

I am a writer. I never wanted to be anything else. But as a self-published author, I also have to be my own agent, accountant, and promoter.

Marketing savvy is not something I possess. What's even worse is what works for one author doesn't necessarily work for another. So how do you foster interest in your books and boost sales when you have no clue what you're doing?

Here are three tips that have worked for me and can be done from your writing cave.

1) Know your genre and find your audience. Be honest with yourself and get the opinions of your critique group. Once you have it, you'll be able to brand yourself and promote your books on sites to readers that will love you.

2) Start a blog. This has been one of my most effective tools in reaching fans. Match it to your genre and don't be afraid to show a little of your personal life.

3) Giveaways. People love free stuff. Use big sites like Goodreads to get a lot of exposure. If you create your own giveaway, add something a little different along with your books. Silly trinkets or a cool item from your story. Giving away gift cards also attracts a lot of attention.

Marketing may never get easier, but once you become adept in a few key things, you can spend your time doing what you really want to do: writing.

(IWSG has my permission to use this post in the anthology.)

Marionette blog tour and 'Tis More Blessed BIG giveaway

Blurb:
Paige Alexander is seventeen and has her whole life in front of her. One day her girlfriend comes home to discover that Paige has slit her wrists. Paige isn't insane, but she acts like she is. Why?

After the incident, Paige agrees to go to therapy to appease her girlfriend, Jess. However, Paige doesn't believe that therapy will help her. She believes she’s beyond help. Paige doesn't want to find herself and she doesn't want to relive her painful past in order to come to terms with it. What Paige wants is control over her life, which she hasn't had since her birth.

During her childhood, Paige is blamed for a family tragedy, when in fact, her twin sister, Abbie was responsible. Abbie doesn't come forward and Paige becomes the pariah of the family.

To add to Paige’s woes, while attending a college in a small town in Colorado, the residents are in the midst of debating whether or not gays and lesbians should have equal rights. Tension is high and there’s a threat of violence. She isn't out of the closet and pretends to be straight at school since she fears what will happen if her parents find out she’s a lesbian. Will she end up dead like her best friend, Alex?

My review:
Paige Alexander is heading off to college and in love with her incredible girlfriend Jess. But then she slits her wrists. As a promise to Jess, Paige agrees to see a therapist while going to school. No one truly knows her and she likes it that way. Yet she never breaks her word. Some promises are easier to keep than others.

MARIONETTE is honest and original. There are a lot of stories out there of teen angst, but many are written with rose-tinted glasses. Not this one. The reader is taken on a real and emotional journey with suicide, abuse, and gay issues. Nothing is held back nor is it overly done. The fact that there's no pretense won me over and sucked me into the story.

Each character was crafted wonderfully, layer upon layer to their personalities. These are people all of us could know. No stereotypes or flat cardboard players. I liked just when you thought you had someone figured out, another layer was revealed. Nothing happened fast. It was a slow unveiling and suitable to the damaged soul Paige is.

It took me a little bit to get into it, but once I did, I was hooked. It's not fast-paced nor does the mystery keep waving right in your face. You find out something new, get comfortable with it, and then there's the next twist. I thought I knew where it might end, but I was surprised where the tale took me. It's not often a book can surprise me anymore.

Purchase MARIONETTE here:
Amazon US * Amazon UK

Mark it to read on Goodreds!

About the Author:
T. B. Markinson is a 39-year old American writer, living in England, who pledged she would publish before she was 35. Better late than never. When she isn’t writing, she’s traveling around the world, watching sports on the telly, visiting pubs in England, or taking the dog for a walk. Not necessarily in that order. Marionette is her second novel. A Woman Lost was her debut novel.

Sign up to TB’s New Release Mailing List here. Your email will never be shared and you will only be contacted when a new book is out.

Twitter * Facebook * Blog * Goodreads

With the success of Creepy Freebies in October,

Milo James Fowler is hosting 'Tis More Blessed this December!

Click on the generous folks on the list below giving stuff away today!

FREE stories and raffles.

'Tis the season for giving.

1.	Milo James Fowler - Every Friday	2.	James Garcia Jr. - 27th
3.	Christine Rains - 13th	4.	Alex J. Cavanaugh - 16th
5.	Madeline Mora-Summonte - 20th	6.	Stephen V. Ramey - Every Friday
7.	Yolanda Renee - Every Friday	8.	Gay Degani - 20th
9.	M.K. Theodoratus - Every Friday	10.	PK Hrezo - 6th
11.	Stephanie Loree - 27th	12.	Jeff Beesler - 27th
13.	Jeff Chapman - 27th	14.	M Pepper Langlinais - 27th
15.	Jay Lake - 6th	16.	L. Diane Wolfe - 13th
17.	KV Taylor - 20th	18.	Julie Flanders - 13th
19.	Simon Kewin - 13th	20.	Gini Koch - 20th
21.	Sherry Ellis - Every Friday	22.	Rhonda Parrish - 6th
23.	Helena Soister - 13th	24.	Martin Willoughby - Every Friday
25.	Michelle Ann King - 6th	26.	Mary Rajotte - 13th
27.	Anthony J. Rapino - 6th	28.	Cherie Reich - 6th
29.	E. Catherine Tobler - Every Friday	30.	Anne E. Johnson - 20th
31.	Tyrean Martinson - Every Friday	32.	Cat Rambo - 13th
33.	Peter Coleborn - Every Friday	34.	T. B. Markinson - 13th
35.	Madeleine Sara - 6th	36.	Camille G. Campbell - 20th
37.	Cat Sparks - 20th	38.	Chrysoula Tzavelas - Every Friday
39.	Stevie Carroll - Every Friday	40.	Anne Barwell - 27th
41.	Kristy Gillespie - Every Friday	42.	Misha Gericke - 27th
43.	Dona Watson - 6th

Today is the one year anniversary of the 13th Floor series!

Last year on December 13th, I released 1301 - THE MARQUIS.

It remains one of the most popular stories in the series, and you can read it for FREE!

Get yourself hooked.

In celebration of its anniversary, I'm giving away one signed copy of The 13th Floor Complete Collection (US only) and a digital copy (open internationally).

a Rafflecopter giveaway