How To Best Support Your Favorite Independent Author (or Artist)

Independent authors are changing the way the publishing world works.  You'll often find their books published for much less than mainstream publishing books electronically for e-readers like the Kindle, Nook, iPad, tablets, etc.  Some even release a book for free in hopes that people will like it and will purchase their other books.

When you discover one of these authors, there are some things you can do to make them more successful.  This has already happened to some, who have been picked up by larger publishers for better distribution.  Here's a small list that isn't all-inclusive:

1.  The obvious:  Buy their books.

2.  The next obvious:  Tell your friends and family.

3.  The not-so-obvious:  Write a review of their book.  This is perhaps the most important thing you can do, because it will reach so many more people and surveys have shown that at twice as many of "first time" book purchases for a new author are based more on reviews than by recommendations from friends or family.

4.  Corollary to #3:  Review the book on other sites where you can.  This includes other venues where it can be bought as well as sites like Goodreads and Shelfari.

5:  Important corollary to numbers 3 and 4:  Do not write a review that will make the book sound better than it really is.  Write an HONEST review of it.  If it is 4 stars, don't give it 5 just because you've liked their other works or know them and want them to be more successful.  Write it honestly and include enough details to help someone else decide if they, too, might like to read it (but not so much you reveal the story).

6.  If they have a web page, share it on social media for them.

7.  If they have a social media presence, follow them. But it isn't enough to just follow them.  You also need to share, click like, +1, etc. their posts.  Facebook for instance, inhibits small businesses and independent authors and artists from being seen by their core audience and followers with their algorithm to show "what is important" by only selecting random posts from a site you've clicked "like" on.  The more posts from that page gets shared and/or liked, the more of their posts that will show to people that have already clicked "like" on their page (and the more likely they can then click "like" or "share").

8.  Corollary to #7:  go to their page just in case you didn't get to see some of their posts.

9.  Encourage them.  Post something to their page letting them know you anxiously await their next book, but don't be too pushy.  Artists and Authors like encouragement, but not so much pressure to complete something.

10.  Repeat.

That's all for this week's blog.  Thanks for reading.

Connect with Me

Follow me on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/TAllanBishop

Follow me on Twitter:  @TAllanBishop

Follow my blog:  http://anblicksanamorphosis.blogspot.com/

I’m also on Tumblr:  http://tallanbishop.tumblr.com/

Favorite me at Smashwords:  https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/TAllanBishop

Find me on Google +:  http://plus.google.com/+TimBishopTAllanBishop

Close To Completion

Today, I finished handwriting the last of the latest short story I was working on for the book coming out this year some time. It was five pages and my thumb joint jot a cramp near the end, but it was worth it. I still have to type it up and polish it up some, but it ended itself pretty well. I haven't decided yet whether to attempt to write the companion story for this story before putting out this book or have it be the first story I write for the next book. It'll probably depend on how well the writing attempt goes before I make the decision.

For now, my biggest decision will be what to title the first book of short stories. I originally had one thing in mind, then another. Now, I'm leaning towards Dark Stories For A Restless Night. I might think of something more awe-inspiring later.

For now, the book consists of the following stories (And a quick blurb about each):

Mary's Painting - A woman buys more than she expects when she purchases a painting on a whim
Sins of the Father - A priest defends the mission he presides over
The Fall - A young boy awakens after a bad accident while playing
Darkness - A group sets out on a rescue mission in the Mexican jungles and finds themselves at peril
Cat's Eye View - Find out why cats behave the way they do
The Viewing - Witness the last days of life on a distant planet
The Journey - A man travels exestentially through the cosmos
Un-Separation - A man's unhappy and unexpected reunion with his wife

That's all I have for this entry, thanks for reading.

Connections

Today I created my author page on Facebook (It already has 74 likes in around 5 hours! Thanks), so I have most of the social media outlets covered in case anyone actually reads my book and decides to "follow" me.  Here's the list of ways to follow or connect with me so far.  Let me know if there's any other ones I've missed that are mainstream enough to be considered (i.e. not MySpace):

Connect with Me

Follow me on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/TAllanBishop

Follow me on Twitter:  @TAllanBishop

Follow my blog:  http://anblicksanamorphosis.blogspot.com/

I’m also on Tumblr:  http://tallanbishop.tumblr.com/

Favorite me at Smashwords (This will be the publisher for all the sites other than Kindle):  https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/TAllanBishop

Find me on Google +:  http://plus.google.com/+TimBishopTAllanBishop

Putting more squiggly lines on the paper

Well, I worked Mid Shifts (overnights, 3rd shifts, etc. for those of you not familiar with the term) for two nights at the end of this week, and hoped that it would result in writing some of my story.  Instead what I found was that Mid Shifts are not at all conducive to writing.  They are not conducive to any creative thought, unless it's the ones that keep you awake when you're TRYING to go to sleep instead of trying to stay awake.  Well, aside from that, I did get a few hundred more words written towards Darkness.

I hope to write some more towards it later today or tonight.  Either way, I did at least make progress towards finishing it.

On the non-writing front, we got the curtain rod and curtains for Megi's room today when we went out for a flag pole.  I'll likely hang them this week some time, which will leave paint touch-up, painting doors (both closet and main bedroom door, carpet cleanup, and moving in the dressers which we will likely sand and re-stain after the weather turns warmer (April time frame).  I'm not sure what the next actual project is for getting the house the way we want it, but I suspect it'll become the master bedroom.

Anyway, that's all I have for this blog, thanks for reading.

Christmas Day So Far In The Bishop Household 12/25/2013

The day started at three o'clock in the morning.  Gabe actually woke up around twelve thirty, but we managed to hold him off for another two and a half hours.  The morning proceeded for about a half hour for Donna and Gabe to see what Santa brought them (and for Mom and Dad, too).  We then convinced them to take some of their stuff upstairs to their room to play with while we tried to get just a tad bit more sleep.  We then got up at seven for Megi to see what she got and for the immediate family to open presents from each other (and from family that would not be in attendance later today).  She handled it much better than I expected.  I expected her to be so overwhelmed that she'd shut down, but instead, she, though overwhelmed, took it mostly in stride and really got into the unwrapping part.  She was not at all pleased with the "quality" job that toy manufacturers do at securing the toys in the packaging.  Neither am I.

Then mom made French toast for everyone for breakfast, which was quite good.  We finished watching A Christmas Carol that we tried to watch last night (until dinnertime interrupted the movie temporarily and then Grandma commandeered the television to watch ID).  Then the kids played for a while as Candice and I cleaned and made preparations for the meal later today when the extended family arrives.  And now Grandma is making more finger foods and nick-knack foods that no one wants just because.

Candice was totally in the Christmas mood this year (for the first time in a while) right up until Grandma started adding to the menu last minute and taking over the space in the kitchen we needed to prep for the meal (along with monopolizing her time that we needed, too, because her "it won't interfere" line was total crap.  It turned into "do all this for me.")  Now Candice is completely out of the mood and dreading the rest of the day.  Grandma is completely oblivious to this fact.  And now, instead of having too many leftovers for the fridge, we're almost certainly going to have too many leftovers for the fridge, plus a bunch of other stuff that no one wants to eat, and it'll sit around until we throw it away in a week and a half.

I was dumb yesterday.  I wrote over a thousand words towards my story Darkness, and then forgot to email a copy home.  It was mostly just rewriting myself back to the point where I was a few months ago, though it feels much better to me now.  There are two less characters and I have a better feel for how the story will progress.  The first death in the second party has occurred and they're trying to figure out the best approach for the immediate future.  Logically, they should turn back and take the body to town, but they're farther away from the town than they are to their destination, and with an unknown predator that they can't be sure where it is, they are essentially stuck until they can decide.  They find that the backpack with the satellite phone is also missing, so calling for help is out of the question.  They're going to decide that there is probably another satellite phone at the campsite they're heading towards, which will push them forward and into the climax of the story.

In a few minutes, I'm going to put the sweet potatoes in the oven, since we're planning on having everyone eat dinner around three in the afternoon.  After that, I guess we need to start boiling the mashed potatoes (I've already peeled and diced them) and make the stuffing.  Then it's get dressed for the big event and enjoy the afternoon.

Megi's Gone Walkabout

So, It's been a couple of months since I provided an update to what's going on in my little world.  We'll start with the main topic I started this blog about:  writing.

I've decided to put a serious effort into writing and publishing using Kindle Direct Publishing.  I'm focusing more on books of short stories than a single novel.  I plan to group them by genre, and will have one horror, one crime/mystery, one sci-fi, and one drama when all is said and done.  I've also got a lot of cool story ideas, including writing a story with a zombie as the protagonist.  Now, I just have to take the time and write the stories.

I also started a Twitter account for my author personna (@TAllanBishop), since apparently that's what people should do.  I think I have two whole tweets so far...

Now on to what has been going on. 

We experienced a quarantine for Whooping cough in our house.  That precipitated Candice and I opening one of our Christmas presents a month early to fill the dead time with the Wii U.

I got to experience an entire day of jury duty for a case involving sexual assault of a minor and 2nd degree kidnapping before finally becoming a peremptory challenge by the defense at 5:30 at night.  I think it would be really neat to sit on a jury, just not a four day trial on that kind of a case.

We got a companion for Ginger:  Bailey.  Bailey is a Basenji/mid-sized terrier mix.  And the day after we rescued him, he cut open his paw pretty bad (he could have bled to death from it had we not gotten him to the doctor right away).  He then proceeded to tear up three cones designed to prevent him from chewing at his bandages and then proceeded to constantly chew his bandages.  We gave up and removed the bandages and he mostly left the stitches alone.

Bailey has been a calming influence on Ginger.  She's less inclined to jump on people and she seems happier now that she has a friend that is around all the time.  We think Bailey had a bad incident with a car, because of a bad scar on his rear leg that he was treated for prior to his adoption and the fact that any moving vehicle scares the bejeezus out of him.  Still ones not so much so.  He's pretty well behaved except that the "fences" we put up to keep him out of or in a room are considered optional by him.  Because he's so well behaved, we think he used to have an owner, but somehow became "homeless" for a while and that's when he had his accident.

We (and the vet) think he cut his paw on the metal edging that separates different landscapings in the back yard.  I'll be taking it out soon to make sure we don't have a repeat performance.

We refinanced the house down from a 4.625% fixed rate to a 3.25% fixed rate and lowered our monthly house payment by about $400 per month.  We refinanced without any cost to us.  Donna's day care bill just got lowered by $10 per week since she's fully potty trained now.  I also plan to switch our cell phones soon to a combined monthly data usage one which will lower our monthly phone bill by about $30 per month.  That's going to help tremendously with living within our budget and getting the bills paid off.

Christmas Eve, Megi began to walk without holding on to anything!  Christmas Day, she actually started doing it as her primary means of getting around, and she rarely crawls anymore.  In fact, she spends hours just walking around because she can and it is fascinating to her.  She's gone walkabout.

Gabe has been home from school for the holidays.  He really copes better when he has school than when he's home for the entire day.  It'll be better for him and Candice when he starts back to school tomorrow.

Donna stumbled in on Santa while he was setting up all the stuff.  He had to disappear in a hurry.  fortunately, he returned later after she went to sleep and finished with everything.

In the next few weeks, I'll be buying the pieces to set up ventillation in the basement to move Candice's glass studio down there.  Once that is done, the next step is to rearrange stuff in the garage so I can park in it again (moving my car out whenever I need to actually "do" stuff in the workshop.

We've finally moved on to painting the next room in the series.  Donna's new room will be green (her favorite color) with a pink highlight wall.  Once we get it painted, we'll move her in and start work on Megi's new room.  When we finish that, we'll start on finishing touches to the rooms and the bathrooms.

Well, that's all for this update.  Thanks for reading.