Facebook – Maria Gibbs

Books, Life, Self-publishing, Uncategorized

A Lifetime or a Season- Teaser

January 18, 2017January 18, 2017 gibbsdream

My Mother had bee one of those alluring women, a flaming redhead, who had men baying at her feet like enslaved dogs. Not for her the indifference of men, she had played the game to the hilt and every man that walked out of her life was a man she had send packing.

Find out more about Athena’s journey to self-discovery as she throws aside the shackles that bind her in.

Novelette pricing:

Kindle 0.99

Paperback: £3.50/ $5.00

Amazon Link: http://mybook.to/ALifetime

For more information and reviews: https://gibbsdream.wordpress.com/my-published-stories-a-lifetime-or-a-season/

Books, Life, Self-publishing, Uncategorized

Bookshop Bistro – Aiding Indie Authors

February 28, 2016February 28, 2016 gibbsdream

There is a wonderful initiative that is run by one very busy lady, a pro-active author who helps other authors. Yes, you are quite right there are lots of people out there who do a lot to support the Indie community.

What makes this initiative special? This one could really work if more people took part.

The idea is that each week there is a spotlight author/book, for that week you have to either have your book priced at .99c or .99p or for free. Then then members over the space of the week buy this book. If they are so inclined, they can read and review also, but that isn’t a necessity. There is no spotlight for the weeks over Christmas and New Year, so the most you commit to is £50.00 or $50.00 per year. You don’t have to buy each and everyone but to make it work it would help. If you already have the spotlight book, you just write that in the comments box.

So what does that do? The increased sales, especially spread out over the week takes you up the Amazon rankings and once you get within the top 100 in a category you may get sales from randoms because if we’re honest how many of us have the patience to trawl through 500 pages to find a book we might be interested in- it doesn’t really happen. If you disagree with me, please feel free to scroll through until you reach mine, pick it, send me a screenshot of your purchase and I will be happy to eat my words. No really, please do that…now!

I was lucky enough to be the spotlight author during the week of the 15th February. I also followed this up with a BookHippo promotion. My Novella’s fall below the word count allowed for BookSends and BookBub otherwise I would have kept the momentum going with them.

So what happened for me? Before the spotlight my sales chart was flatlining, I was waiting for the time of death statement.

I am going to attach more screenshots here than you may want to see, but please feel free to scroll from the top to the bottom to give you the picture.

Amazon UK:

14/2/2016

15/2/2016 – Spotlight starts (5 sales)

16/2/2016 (3 sales)

17/2/2016 (3 sales)

18/2/2016 (1 sale)

19/2/2016 (0 sales – 1 review)

Didn’t do a screenshot

20/2/2016 (6 sales – Book Hippo that day also)

21/2/2016 (1 sale) last day

1 week later with no additional sales

Can you imagine what those figures would look like if more people participated, worth thinking about.

Amazon US:

14/2/2016 (2 sales) presumably the difference in time zones attributed to early sales

15/2/2016 (1 sale)

16/2/2016 (0 Sales)

17/2/2016 (1 sale)

18/2/2016 (0 sales)

No screenshot today

19/2/2016 (0 sales)

No screenshot today

20/2/2016 (1 sale)

21/2/2016 (0 sales)

One week later with no additional sales

Amazon Canada:

I didn’t have any ranking on the Canadian site, so anything was a bonus. I won’t post every day.

18/2/2016 (2 sales)

19/2/2016 (1 sale)

20/2/2016 (1 sale)

One week later with no additional sales

I would love to have been able to report that my sales had continued but alas that isn’t true but maybe had the amount of participating members been higher the rankings may have risen higher and stayed there for longer. I certainly enjoyed being part of this and will continue to support the spotlight each week.

If anyone hasn’t bought ‘As Dreams are Made on.’ I have left it at the sale price 0.99 in whatever country you are in.

myBook.to/Adamo

I would like to thank everyone who bought the book, read or reviewed or still plans to do so.

I would especially like to thank Tanya whose hard work makes this group possible. I want to end by doing a mini interview with Tanya.

Me: What was your motivation behind the Spotlight of the week?
Tanya: I was frustrated at how the big publishers are able to set a book off at a run when it’s released because of having such a larger support network. I wanted to see if we could develop a similar type of network for indies.

Me: What would you like to see from the group?
Tanya: I’d love to see it grow into the thousands and potentially branch off by genre.

Me: You are an exceptionally busy woman who not only works but writes so where do you find the time to help other people so much?

Tanya: There’s a saying, “if you want something to get done, ask a busy person” lol. I love helping people, it’s inherent in my nature, as such I tend to make the time to do the things I love. It helps that I don’t have a social life too haha.

Me: You have published your own book, ‘Dreams of Beautiful Whisper.’ when do you plan to make your book the spotlight of the week?

Tanya: My plan was to wait until I had book 2 completed, though that’s been delayed a bit, so I’m not sure on my timing. I also didn’t want members to feel that the purpose of the group was self-serving for my own book, so I haven’t made my book a priority for the Spotlight. I’ve also tried to stress to those submitting their books for the Spotlight that it’s important to have supporting marketing lined up for before, during and after a Spotlight position in order to maximize the benefits from it. I don’t have that stuff lined up for my own book yet, so that’s another factor in me holding off for now.

Me: Have you got a release date in mind for book two?

Tanya: Originally I was aiming for, well now lol, but a variety of circumstances in my life has caused a delay. So at this point I’m really not 100% sure when I’ll get it finished. But I am hoping to at least have ARCs available before the summer. (It is coming along nicely and my read along editors are loving it!)

Me: What advice would you give to anyone starting out on the journey of writing?

Tanya: As for the writing side – just do it. Make sure you’re writing something (anything) every day. Keep learning about the craft and always aim to improve your grammar, spelling, punctuation and word choice. For the rest of it, don’t try to rush the process. Do your research, learn the ins and outs and then approach it all very methodically. This can be a huge challenge for creative types as we do tend to be more sporadic and random by nature. But if you’re wanting to publish your work (by any means) it’s important to treat it as a business and to make sure you have a well thought out plan in place that you then consistently execute.

Please check this group out on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1675211409402187/

or on the website:

http://panopticnews.com/bookshopbistro/

Books, Self-publishing, Uncategorized

Happy 1st Anniversary

January 10, 2016January 10, 2016 gibbsdream

A year ago today I hit the publish button and sat back waiting with bated breath. Oh don’t get me wrong I didn’t expect the world and his sister to rush out and buy it, but I did know that I was putting myself our there. Opening myself up to criticism, allowing anyone to put their opinions of my work on the net.

It has been an interesting year, a learning curve that opened my slightly innocent eyes.

I started with a cover that I made myself using a photograph taken from my sister-in-law (with her permission of course). I have to admit I was pleased as punch with it at first. The picture is lovely but as a cover put together by me didn’t work. It said nothing about the book and what you can expect when you open the cover. Eventually, I asked for advice from fellow authors on good cover designers who were reasonably priced. I was introduced to J.C Clarke from The Graphics Shed, who designed a beautiful cover and extras.

In that year, I have made some amazing friendships with other authors and also discovered their incredible stories. Amazon would have it that it is biased because I have spoken to them on social media but any reviews I put online are honest. If I didn’t enjoy reading them, I wouldn’t leave a review it’s as simple as that.

In one year I have sold 70 copies of this book for cold hard cash, one person has picked it up and read it through Kindle Unlimited which equates to cold hard cash, and I have given away about 60 copies for free. So there are about 130 copies floating around the world from England to America, South Africa, Canada and Australia, and those are the ones I know about. So I haven’t taken the world by storm, I haven’t even given it a tiny tremble, but there are people out there who are enjoying my work. (Maybe not enjoying too but I won’t focus on them haha)

Getting people who tell you that they have enjoyed your book to take a few minutes out of their hectic schedules to leave a review is the bane of an authors’ life. Reviews generate more sales or so they say. There is a magic figure; the actual amount seems to be in doubt, that activates the Amazon algorithms which in turn makes your book a product that they will market. Some say that 50 is the magic number. What makes it harder is that each Amazon is a different marketplace, so my reviews on Amazon.co.uk and those on Amazon.com and anywhere else don’t link up. When I leave a review for a fellow author I post it in .co.uk, .com and .ca the three biggest marketplaces, I also post it in Goodreads, write a post on my website and share in on Twitter and Facebook. It makes me incredibly happy when I see a direct link between a book review I have left and a sale for that author. At the moment I get emails from Amazon recommending my books to me, I can only hope these emails go to other people too. The more review I can get the more promotion, this will generate.
So onto my reviews, some of these are duplicated by authors who do the same as I do, but most are unique reviews.

The first one is from Amazon.co.uk, the one with the picture below is from Goodreads, the third is from Amazon.com, and the final one is from Amazon.ca

I am inordinately pleased with these. Writing can be a lonely business but seeing the pleasure that people get from my writing gives me the strength to carry on when I feel that there isn’t a point to slogging my guts for so little return.

For the next week to celebrate the 1st year anniversary I have placed this book on sale .99c/ .99p (my take from that works out to about .37p 🙂 )

If you would like to pick up a copy: myBook.to/Adamo

Blurb:

Newly wed Matty Taylor is plagued by visions that force her to seek out a Gypsy at a local fair. Dragged violently into a frightening dream world, she is soon rescued by the mysterious Thomas Trevelyan and taken to his secluded house in the woods.

Will her husband, Donald, suspend his disbelief and wake her from her nightmare?

Can Thomas win her heart and keep her from the lure of her real life and the love of her husband?

Teasers:

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Books, Life, Self-publishing, Uncategorized

Hello 2016, Goodbye 2015

December 31, 2015 gibbsdream

As the year nears its end, we all take a little bit of time to reflect on our year and make plans or resolutions for the year ahead.

For those who have enjoyed a good 2015, their hopes are that 2016 will be just as kind and for those who have suffered through 2015 the hope is that 2016 will be a better one for them.

Earlier today I saw a friend on Facebook mention that it is in reality only passing from one day to another as it does every other day of the year. She mentioned that she set goals or resolutions throughout the year. She is correct, and I think we should all do that, but there is something about the idea of an ending and a beginning that we as a species tend to like. It feels as though you can package the previous year up in a box, gift wrap it, tie it with ribbon and consign it to the dusty realms marked as the past. As the clock chimes midnight signalling the beginning of a new year we take out a new box, all neatly wrapped up and inside is a blank journal that we will write our new experiences, joys and sorrows on. It seems exciting because we feel as though we can do anything, fill it with adventure. It lets us know that we still have hope and while we have hope we can achieve so much.

I have been blessed with a good year. In January, I self-published a short story and followed up with another short story in February. Since then I have been working on a number of projects all in various stages of completion. I have learnt to do things that I wouldn’t have dreamt possible, faced things that scared the bejeebers out of me. I have made some amazing friends that I have never met and may never meet. I have read books that have transported me to other worlds. I have been lucky enough to have gone on two holidays this year: Malta and Maldives. I have also experienced some personal sadnesses this year that I won’t dwell on. I also achieved a half-marathon and a whole day sponsored silence. I also am now the proud owner of a Honda CG125 motorbike which I love.

I would like to thank everyone who has been part of this year with me, those who have bought my books and kindly left me reviews. More than anything I would like to thank my family and friends who are always there when I need them.

2016 for me will be about pursuing my writing further, publishing my WIPs and hopefully getting some more sales.

So I will bid a fond farewell to 2015 and greet 2016 with open arms and a bottle of Prosecco 😉

Both of my books are on sale until the end of Friday 1st January 2016. If you are interested in making me smile on New Years Day then click & buy

🙂

As Dreams are Made on: myBook.to/Adamo

A Lifetime or a Season: myBook.to/ALifetime

Books, Self-publishing

777 Challenge

September 30, 2015September 30, 2015 gibbsdream

I was tagged today by DM Miller for the 777 Challenge. I am certainly up for a challenge and this one is far easier than the ice bucket and half marathon challenges.

DM is the author of The Religion of the Heart

Catherine and Abdul come from two opposing worlds. She is raised in the Judeo-Christian West, while he comes from a Muslim family in Egypt. Their first meeting is little more than a fleeting moment, but it sparks over a decade-long desperation and agonizing battle to be together. Incompatible religions, distinct cultures and hot-tempered families vowing to keep them apart are the overwhelming hurdles they face, and reality hits once mysteries are solved and the fairytale beginning fades away. They are left with difficult decisions as they determine how important their respective religions are and whether or not the Muslim culture can mesh with the West. Can an enduring yet taboo love conquer all when conflicting religions are duking it out, or will threatening roadblocks stand in the way?

Click to buy: http://amzn.to/1PO6IS6

The Challenge

So the idea is that I take seven sentences from the seventh line of the seventh page from my newest book or work in progress (WIP)

I will be using my WIP – My novel Is This Love?

Theo & Gemma meet on a night out, after an instant attraction and the evening spent getting to know each other they face the moment when the night draws to a close:

A catfight broke out between two girls who’d had too much to drink. Two policemen separated them as clumps of peroxide hair came away in the taller girl’s hands. Skirts the size of belts hung askew and beer-stained tops rode high up flabby midriffs. Hair coiffed to within an inch of perfection at the beginning of the night was now lank, while makeup ran down their faces, and they screamed abuse at each other.

“Come back with me?” Theo whispered.

Every inch of my body screamed to go. I’ve come here to spend the weekend with Chris.

Hope you enjoyed it. Gemma and Theo will be coming to an Amazon Kindle near you soon. 🙂

I now need to tag 7 authors in this to take part:

Rose English is the author of One Breath

The rainbow had vanished, swept away behind a great sweeping of grey clouds. The air was still fresh and fragrant from the afternoon April shower, when for a time the sun had peeked through cotton candy clouds. Dorothea magically produced a tiny retractable umbrella, from her coat pocket, just as the first drop of rain fell. Albert always marvelled at her ability to be prepared for any event, she was his beautiful and intelligent petite little Dotty. The rain started gently, in spits and spats but the heavy laden clouds were being whipped up into a frenzy. As little Dotty opened the brolly a sudden gust of wind shot through, and flipped it inside out.

The couple began to laugh as they struggled together to right the umbrella, whilst standing in the middle of a sodden, damp country lane. The rain was now pouring; it fell heavily, quickly soaking them through to the bone. They didn’t hear the car approaching, what with the wind, whipping round them and both wrangling with the now useless item, still clenched between them.

Then it was too late.

Click to buy: http://amzn.to/1j19HMS

2. Tanya Jones-Thibodeau is the author of Dreams of Beautiful Whisper

When Amanda learns that the gorgeous beauty-boy of her disturbingly life-like dreams is in fact an elven warrior from her past, things get complicated. But shortly after being urgently moved back to the village where she was born, well things just got weird.

WHO IS SHE?
AMANDA, A HIGH-SCHOOL GIRL WITH A BOYFRIEND SHE INTENDS TO EVENTUALLY MARRY? or
AMANAE, A POWERFUL ELF WITH A SOUL-MATE FOR ETERNITY?

As the haze of her blocked past lifts, the truth of who she is, what she must endure and how it will change her peaceful human life forever, threaten to be more than she can handle. Even with her practical approach to challenges, the reassurance of her boyfriend Jordan and the encouraging support of an entire elven kingdom, will Amanda have the strength and skill to fulfill her destiny?

Click to buy: http://amzn.to/1QLrkuj

3. CJ Rutherford is the author of Souls of the Never (and more)

Katheryne thinks she’s just a normal 20-year-old, until her dreams descend into terror and pain.
At the edge of the universe, an ancient evil awakens. It wants into our world; and it’s coming through her.
As the dreams become reality, Katheryne is pitched into a battle that has raged for thousands of years. The fate of all reality rests in her hands.

Click to buy: http://amzn.to/1WyOrvS

4. Colette Kebell is the author of The Retail Therapist (and more)

Window shopping! Don’t you just hate the term?
It is like going into a sweet shop and not being able to buy anything, or not knowing what to buy first. That is exactly my line of business, helping people make the right choice.
I’m one of those fashion consultants that are so popular nowadays amongst the upper crust, although I started ages ago. Choosing the right clothes for the right occasion is not an easy task: the dress has to match your personality and, if it can, enhance it.
This story is about how I abandoned the rat race, spending days in a legal office, and followed my dream of becoming a fashion consultant. I believe I’m something more though, I’m a Retail Therapist and I’m sure you are itching to know the story about how I started and how I helped my clients look fabulous! So, what are you waiting for? Hurry up, click that “buy” button up there and be prepared to enter the mysterious world of a Berkshire Retail Therapist girl.

Click to buy: http://amzn.to/1P5VSbO

5. M.B Feeney is the author of Right Click, Love (and more)

Disheartened about not being able to find “Mr. Right” on the London dating scene, best friends Jodie Lynch and Louise Hewson create a blog to not only document their disastrous dates with the numerous “Mr. Wrongs” and “Mr. Okay-for-nows” but also to help those going through the same experiences and to see where they’re going wrong. How will they deal with everything the dating scene has to throw at them — planned or otherwise?

Click to buy: http://amzn.to/1POcYJu

6. J.C Clarke is the author of Fragile (and more)

Deep down I enjoyed this life, it was fun seeing the different towns. Seven months on the road, five months back at the yard. Day in, day out. Nothing changed except the weather and the accents of the fair-goers.

Until tonight. That’s when I see you standing there, looking back at me when my eyes find you. Even in the dimming light of the day and the harsh flashing bulbs, I see you blush before you look down, looking anywhere except back at me. A smirk creeps onto my face with my thoughts: you look beautiful in your baggy jeans and vest top.

The light captures your black hair shielding your face. I know I need to grab a shower before I head into the pay box, but I can’t seem to tear myself away from watching you.

Click to buy: http://amzn.to/1hbpxCz

7. Kathleen McGurl is the author of The Pearl Locket (and more)

When Ali inherits her great-aunt’s house she immediately moves her whole family in, despite the warnings that there is something strange about the place.

Unfazed Ali begins redecorating, going through the rooms, making each one her own with the help of her daughter, Kelly. But when under the wallpaper in Kelly’s new room they discover a scrawled message from 1944 Ali begins to question the history of the house as she knows it.

Her family has always seemed so picture perfect, not a blemish or a secret to be found. Yet, this discovery throws her into confusion and Ali begins to question exactly what she knows about her family and the mysteries they have kept hidden…

Click to buy: http://amzn.to/1FILWTt

Self-publishing

Self-publishing – 6 months down the line

July 27, 2015 gibbsdream

It seems now that I have been part of this game forever, but it is only six months. I started out – as mentioned in previous posts- completely clueless. Every week I learn something more about this process and probably forget something also. One of the areas that surprised me the most was the camaraderie involved in networking. I have spoken to so many people online through Facebook & Twitter that are becoming daily names in my world much as or more even than friends and family. They have become an author network family, and I enjoy hearing about their successes and achievements. The support between one author and another is fantastic. I know there are a lot of authors out there who say they have no time to network, they post and run, and yet they seem to be missing out a very valuable part of the process. It is people from those networks who will help you, promote you and support you in a way that friends and family very often won’t. All you have to do is reciprocate. It isn’t hard to do.

I’ve learned about algorithms on both Amazon and Facebook. I know that on Amazon these are activated by sales and reviews. The outside world has no idea just how important those reviews are. It isn’t only about allowing other potential customers to become aware how good your work is; it also triggers promotions from Amazon. Likewise with Facebook, when you post something, it doesn’t automatically go to everyone on your friend list, only certain people see it but the more people engage with that post by liking, commenting or sharing then Facebook allows it to go out to a wider audience. On Twitter, there is the chance that something, if retweeted enough, will go viral. So when I see the posts, links, etc. of my fellow authors I want to help them with that process and that is part of the reason I set up the Facebook group Pay it Forward for Authors.

I still haven’t made that million that I wanted 😉 I haven’t even made enough to make it a full-time proposition but I have learned so many valuable things in publishing my two short stories that I can take that forward and it will help me with publishing my novel – when I finish the edit, if I ever finish the edit!

I have discovered that behind all the hard work, the endless hours of writing, editing, reading, social media, formatting, etc.. I am actually enjoying the process. Well, maybe with the exception of the formatting. Wow, I have come a long way! A few months ago editing would have been included in the exception.

At the moment, both my short stories are dangling close to the top 100 in a sub-category, and that is so exciting. The irony is that with one or two sales your ranking can jump significantly and likewise with a few quiet days, weeks you can plunge into obscurity. This is the point where I am seriously considering paying people to buy my books – no I’m only kidding. This is a pet hate of mine, I don’t and won’t buy followers, reviews or anything else. My success is made or not as the case may be on its own merits. It’s like winning a board game as a child by cheating; no satisfaction can come from it at all unless you are on a hunt for glory.

It will be interesting to see where this journey takes me in the next six months.

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