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On June 16th, the Many Shades blog will be closed.
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Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Interesting Author Tools


I'm on my new machine and don't have any pictures except cover art...and isn't it a wonderful cover? Yeah, I'm on the elf track again. I'll talk more about this is July...

This week when trying to decide what I would write, I ran across some interesting things for writers. Some of these you all may know and some you might not.

The first is a place called Tiny Url. The website for this is http://www.blogger.com/www.tinyurl.com and it does something miraculous. It takes a large url, like the purchase link for one of your books, and makes it small. So basically, you go from this

http://www.extasybooks.net/ebjmsite/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=ebook_flypage&product_id=5045&category_id=31&manufacturer_id=65&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=44

to this

http://tinyurl.com/AnElfsMagic

with very little effort. The page is self explanatory and these tiny urls can be book specific. This looks more polished and professional in my opinion. I use these in all my promo now and it does look much better.

Last week I had talked about promotion and given you a yahoogroup to join, so you would get pinged every day about promoting. This week, I'm going to give you a list of links where promotion is welcome. On these lists, you can promote anything. You should check them out.

An Alternative Read http://groups.yahoo.com/group/An_Alternative_Read/

Cupids Library Reviews http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cupidslibraryreviews/

ebook Chatters http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebookChatters/

Hot Romance Readers http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HotRomanceReaders/

Infinite Possibilities http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Infinite_Possibilities/

Moonlight Fantasy http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Moonlight_Fantasy/

Don't forget to check to see if they have any posting rules. Most groups have but they are easy to follow. These are but a few on my list which ranges between 80-300 groups. Do I belong to them all? No, I don't but I go regularly to check them out and see if they are offering author days. It never hurts to just join then change the email to special notices only. That way you're there and will only have to make a minor change to become a regular again. And there are always giveaways on these groups. Nothing wrong with some free books for any of us.

Another thing you all may have run across are book trailers. I have been asked many times whether you need one or not. I'm not sure if an author does but I can tell you it does generate interest. Take a look at one of my trailers and see what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMsz9fmy9ls

Now what is amazing about this video is two things. One is that it has been viewed 2,136 times. To this day, I get people emailing me and asking about this video. It's a little long but nicely put together even if there is an error in it that no one caught. LOL! Oh, well, it didn't distract anyone at all since no one pointed it out.

The reason the error was never changed is that making a video is time intensive and I had moved on by the time I noticed it. Still, videos are a great way to get the word out about your books.

That's all on the promo front this week. I wish you all luck in getting the word out about your books. Drop me a line and let me know.

More on epublishing and RWA: the epublishing dilemma has been heating up over at RWAchange. The group is renaming itself in order to not violate any RWA edict on use of the name as well as to better define what they are about. The new name will be Romance Writers for Change with a completely new website and yahoogroups. There is still a lot of misinformation floating around out there, so I suggest that all of you read everything carefully before you decide which side of the fence you'll end up on.

One of the best articles I've read this week really hits the nail on the head, so to speak and I think you'll see the truth of this blog. The link is http://www.blogger.com/www.theresameyers.com/blog/ and the author, Theresa Myers, is a long time RWA member. Very interesting to see another's perspective. And look under June 25th if the blog doesn't come up correctly as the software is new and while it's the same, there are some new features which I'm not sure I quite have down yet. LOL!

Next week I'll be gone to Idaho but plan to have something up. I'm not sure if it will be pictures or a travel log but it will be something. Then I'm off to visit a friend in Canada. She lives north of Vancouver and I can't wait to go. I'll keep you all posted.

One final thing...the winner of my summer pack is...drumroll please: Debby Creager (cleo@hbeark.com). Debby, I will be emailing you this weekend for your snail mail addy. And I want to thank all of you for participating. I'll be having another contest in late August for the release of my next elf book, Giselle's Elf, coming out August 1.

Until next time...hope you have a great week!

Lynn

18 comments:

Unknown said...

Congrats to the winner and I just wanted to say thanks for the website links, I'm off to go check them out now.
Val
lastnerve2000@gmail.com

Stephanie said...

Great Info! Thanks so much for sharing Lynne, there's some places to add to my list for checking out new writers! Can't wait to see what I find out.

Lynn Crain said...

Thanks, lastnerve...and what a great email address. LOL!

You're added to the contest drawing for the next time.

Lynn

Lynn Crain said...

You're welcome, Stephanie. Glad it could help!

Lynn

Unknown said...

thanks for the links again!
Wow! over 2K hits on the vid? that's great. I checked it out again too. looking forward to your Giselle's Elf story!
=)
C.

robynl said...

congrats winner Debbie C.

I'm going to check out some of the sites you mentioned. I really like trailers and will check it out.

Lisa said...

Congratulation Lynn! I found finally gotten it to work here. (G) Thanks for the invited for the blog!
Hugs!
Lisa

Lynn Crain said...

C.R., yeah, over 2K hits really blew my mind. That little video is one of my favorites and sometimes I even watch it myself! LOL!

Thanks for stopping by.

Lynn

Lynn Crain said...

Robynl,

Yeah, I love most of these sites, I just use them so much. And I really love the videos. I just don't have the time I used to for making them.

But they're fun! Thanks for stopping by!

Lynn

Lynn Crain said...

Lisa,

You're very welcome. Stop by any time!

Lynn

orelukjp0 said...

I am surprised that no one mentioned any of the errors. I know that it is time consuming to make a video and editing can be a nightmare. I have helped my daughter do dance videos and overlaying taps on original scores and then syncing the sounds to the movements can leave one pulling hair for days. As you said, no one said anything so why change it. Since I was looking with the express purpose of finding errors, three things struck me as odd.
The name of the heroine was given as Angie Hudson but I thought her name was Angie Marks. Also both places where your name was placed it looked like your last name was spelled with a lower case c as opposed to a capitol C. I also thought it was odd in the credits where it had Music then the word White then Kevin McLeod's name. I could not grasp what or who is White. That may not be an error but just odd.

Anyway, I just wanted to say I did like the video, loved your article and the tiny url mentions, and I especially love your books.

Also, Thank you for adding my name to your next drawing.

orelukjp0 at gmail dot com

Seriously Reviewed said...

Great info for the other Authors. Thanks for all the web links.

Erin Sinclair said...

Thanks Lynn, as usual you are a fountain of useful information! Had a great time the other day, so enjoyed you and CR's company!

Erin

deb said...

I have just read my name and I am so excited to find out I won. Thank you so much for the chance to win this awesome prize.
Debby Creager
cleo@hbeark.com

Lynn Crain said...

orelukj0,

I'll have to go look as if it seems you have found a few more things in my video. LOL!

The credits are just like in a movie, telling everyone who did what. Kevin McLeod is a wonderful musician and offers a lot of royalty free music to authors as long as we acknowledge his contribution. He'll even write some specific things for you if you ask real nice.

I am glad you like my books. Look forward to quite a few between now and the end of the year.

Lynn

Lynn Crain said...

Romancereader,

Why, thank you. Glad you stopped by!

Lynn

Lynn Crain said...

Erin,

You're simply amazing yourself and I so am going to miss you. We'll have to chat before I leave.

Lynn

Lynn Crain said...

Deb!

I was wondering if I would need to send the cavalry after you!

I'm so happy you've won. I'll email you offline to get your snail mail.

Thanks for entering and dropping by again.

Lynn

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