Authors-Readers International
Authors-Readers International is the name of a new means of online promotion I have developed to help the many great authors I’ve met, previously promoted, have worked with online, or whose books I’ve published, to reach a wider audience – worldwide, I’m hoping! – and receive more attention for their published books.
I’m going to begin this promotion (which will run as a series of blog posts here on my main blog, reblogged on Reading Recommendations, and shared on social media) with a daily post on individual authors, beginning on
Dec. 1 and ending with Dec. 31. Then any further promotions will be less frequent, maybe one a week. Inclusion of authors promoted here will be by invitation only. I want to present the authors I’ve met in person or who I’ve had a connection with online, but also, and more importantly, authors whose books I have enjoyed reading. I want to share their work with readers around the world and give them as much exposure as I can muster. I’ve already come up with a complete list of authors for the Dec. blog posts and I’ll be contacting these authors all within the next couple of days to explain this new promotion to them and ask if they would like to participate.
But really, this is all about the readers out there, and providing all readers with information on good books and authors who may not have previously been on their radar. The crucial part of this promotion though is in the sharing of blog posts and attracting more readers to pay attention to this information I’m compiling.
Eventually I’d like to include online interviews with the authors, encourage all authors to create their own podcasts and videos about themselves and their writing, and allow them to “give a brief reading” from their books via a podcast or video. Online literary “salons” are also a possibility in the future. (I have a lot of ideas for developing this promotion series, and all ideas have already been approved, I’m happy to say, by Betty Jane Hegerat! I’ve promised her that no dressing up as clowns will be involved.)
I’m up for suggestions from readers, too … What would you like to know/hear about new-to-you authors?
Links will be provided to all published work and author websites. These promotion pieces will be brief, but I’m hoping they will offer enough information to encourage more readers to seek out and read books by authors who I personally recommend.
The Places She Goes … a travel blog
Yesterday I discovered a new-to-me travel blog, because the recent post that drew my attention was about Bequia and Moonhole. With Dorothy Adele’s kind permission, I am posting the intro, the cover photo, and a link here to the post. Other visitors to Bequia and readers of my novels will be very interested to learn more about this island. Please follow the link through to Dorothy’s blog, “like” the post after you read it, make a comment (tell Dorothy you found her through my blog!) and consider following her blog for more informative posts on her travels. Thanks, Dorothy!
You Can Still Stay in Moonhole Bequia, SVG
Johnston Moonhole Home – photo posted with permission, D. Adele
Moonhole Bequia
When Tom Johnston drew his plans in the sand to build his home in Moonhole on Bequia (Beck-way), did he know that magazines and newspapers from afar would send journalists for the story? Did he know that his decision to build his unstructured home in a dangerous location would have a lasting impact on the people of Bequia and those who visited?
In the early 1960’s, untrained in architecture or design, Tom Johnston had used what was available to build his home on the undeveloped island of Bequia in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It was and still is, an icon that represents the Johnston’s tie to nature. Unfortunately, today the house is condemned due to falling rocks and other hazards, and the only way for you to see it is by boat.
(Read the rest of the post by clicking here.)
What are you reading?
In which I introduce a new blog I will begin publishing soon … What are you reading?
This past summer, I finally got around to reading a book that had been highly recommended to me a while ago by long-time book pal, Judy Gardner. (And I’ve posted before about Judy here and here and here.)
The book, The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe, was better than just a good read for me … it was life-changing, in that it made me see a new approach to books and reading and sharing books that had never occurred to me before. There was a lot in there too about life in general, about how we interact with other people (albeit, fellow readers), family and friends, and how we deal with loss and grief. The book was so good that I immediately began recommending it to everyone I spoke with – kind of like a recent religious convert – bought a print copy to keep forever and ever, and borrowed another of Schwalbe’s books from the library. I wanted to read everything the man had written. 
It was this second book, Books For Living, that gave me the idea for creating another blog. The following quote, from “The Final Word”, specifically planted the seed:
I used to say that the greatest gift you could ever give anyone is a book. But I don’t say that anymore because I no longer think it’s true. I now say that a book is the second greatest gift. I’ve come to believe that the greatest gift you can give people is to take time to talk with them about a book you’ve shared. A book is a great gift; the gift of your interest and attention is even greater.
Reading is a respite from the relentlessness of technology, but it’s not only that. It’s how I reset and recharge. It’s how I escape, but it’s also how I engage. And reading should spur further engagement. P. 255
And from the introduction:
We all ask each other a lot of questions: “Where did you go for vacation?” “How did you sleep?” Or, my favorite, as I eye the last bites of chocolate cake on a friend’s dessert plate, “Are you going to finish that?” … But there’s one question I think we should ask of one another a lot more often, and that’s “What are you reading?”
It’s a simple question but a powerful one, and it can change lives, creating a shared universe for people who are otherwise separated by culture and age and by time and space. p. 15
Note that Schwalbe says this question has the power to “change lives” … and that’s what I’m aiming for with this new blog. (No slouch me! I’m heading for world domination in a reading capacity!)
I will post my own contributions from time to time, and I do already have a few books in mind to recommend. But I’d really like to make this about you, the other readers out there who have a favourite book to talk about and that you just want to share with everyone. I’m looking for books that have really grabbed you, as happened to me with the book Judy recommended (above). If you have read or are reading such a book, please send me a message using the form on the contact page and we can discuss you posting to the new blog.
Remember, I’m not looking for reviews of books for this blog, but for titles of books that have really knocked off your reading socks, books that have made a difference in your life or that have been influential because of the ideas they present or the way they are written. (Great writing is also capable of knocking off our reading socks!) You just need to give me a brief explanation as to how you discovered the book and/or why it is one you believe others would find equally amazing. I will add links to the book and a cover jpeg to your text. Also, I will include a brief bio of you as a reader, if you wish.
I have already had the pleasure of “interviewing” a reader last week while she was still on Bequia and will begin this new blog with what she had to say about her current reading material. Once that post is published, and I’ve had a chance to tell you in another post what I have been reading, you’ll then have an idea of how I expect each post will look and the information that I’ll need from you to be able to post about what YOU are reading!
(Authors, please take note that this will not be an opportunity to showcase your own books. Let’s leave that up to my other blogs, Reading Recommendations and reading recommendations reviewed, okay? As I said above, these are not meant to be reviews but just a shout-out for any outstanding books readers happen to be reading. Thanks for your understanding.)
2017 – My Favourite Blogs and Bloggers!
Out of necessity, I had to cut down drastically on the number of blogs I subscribe to and read – the number of good blogs out there was becoming impossible to keep up with on a daily basis! So I’ve narrowed down my list here to the truly GREAT blogs I continue to follow and read (and comment on and share) on a regular basis. If you’ve been following my blog for a while you will notice many familiar names. Some bloggers publish posts more than once a day and others are sporadic. But I can guarantee you will always find something of interest to read on these bloggers’ sites. Do check out each and every one of them and see if you agree with me, and I also hope you find a few new favourites to follow and read. (Sorry to those I didn’t list. There was a point where I had to cut off this list!!)
* Denotes the blogger is also a published author and it would be well worth it to check out what they’ve published!
** Denotes the blogger has promoted me and my books on their blog at some time or another.
**Chris, The Story Reading Ape – *Christopher Graham
**Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life – *Sally Cronin
**WHAT THE HELL – *Kevin Brennan
**A Creative State of Mind – *Tricia Drammeh
**blindoggbooks – *Tim Baker
**Seumas Gallacher – *Seumas Gallacher
**South Branch Scribbler – *Allan Hudson
**Philosopher Mouse of the Hedge – Karen Parker
**theshammuramat – *Felicity Harley
beetleypete – Pete Johnson
Leaving Ourselves Behind – Ginny & Stephen
**Betty Jane Hegerat: Canadian author of literary fiction – *Betty Jane Hegerat
Camino De Tim – *Timothy L. Phillips
Books Unpacked – *Merilyn Simonds
**Matilda Magtree and **The Litter I See Project – Carin Makuz
Paul Butler Novelist – *Paul F. Butler
Seth’s Blog – *Seth Godin
My Peacock Books – Cat Peacock
Marathon Mouth – *Bill Corbett
**Owlish Books – Loes M.
What’s Cookin’?
As readers of my new novel, One Woman’s Island, have discovered, I included local Bequia recipes at the end of each chapter to give you all a “flavour” of what the food is like that the book’s characters eat.
Also at the end I included a recipe for an Island in the Clouds cocktail I invented that Sharon Wilson and Dan Erkelens kindly tested and reviewed here on reading recommendations reviewed.
One Woman’s Island is a very personal book, and one thing I definitely share with the main character is a love of good food and cooking. Over the years living on Bequia I’ve had the opportunity to develop my cooking skills and have become quite a good baker. Of course, it helps to have a pizza/bread oven close by …
I also developed a recipe for cinnamon buns that produces a light and fluffy bun not cloyingly sweet. (Recipe is in the book.)
So, if you haven’t read my novel yet, you’re in for a taste treat as well as (I think) a good story!
But now I’m coming to the reason for the title of this blog post, and I want to know …
What’s Cookin’ in YOUR kitchen!
Everyone has a recipe that’s special to them, either something your mother made for the family or a favourite recipe you’ve “owned” over the years – your party trick! – that receives accolades whenever you serve it. Or it could be that you now live in a different culture altogether (as I have) and you’ve discovered some local specialty you find very appealing and representative of the place and its people. So here’s what I’m asking you to do …
Please share that recipe with us! If you have a blog, please write a post – link to this blog post then tell your own story about the importance of your recipe. Include the complete recipe and add a photo of the dish as it’s served, if possible. But please do give us the background information as to why this particular recipe is so important. (If you do not write a blog, please contact me if you would like to participate and I will create a separate blog post for you here.)
Even if you are not a cook yourself, I’m sure you can think of something you’ve enjoyed eating during your lifetime, something that has significance to you. I want to hear about it!
In a way, we’ll be creating a kind of online cookbook for other readers to enjoy.
And … just in case you were wondering, this is what half of a 22-dozen order for bagels looks like.
Authors continuing to behave badly …
It seems to be time – again! – to remind some “authors” out there how they should be conducting themselves in the world of promoting their books. Not everyone has bad manners, but there are enough who make it difficult for the rest of us who DO abide by those guidelines and rules and maintain decent behaviour.
This need to reiterate what I’ve railed on about before here came about after a reviewer posted this poem to her own blog – a poem that was actually a cry for help and an oblique explanation of how she’d been treated recently by indie authors she had set herself up to help promote. I reblogged her poem here then wrote to the reviewer directly to tell her I understood what she was going through.
Fortunately, this reviewer’s experience has had a happy (!) ending, or at least her problem has been resolved somewhat, to the point that she posted a follow-up poem this morning on her own blog.
I knew I’d addressed this subject of “Authors Behaving Badly” before, so I typed those words into my blog’s search thingie and found the following two posts written one after the other in Dec. 2014.
So here, for the benefit of Happymeerkatreviews and those authors who continue to behave badly when approaching reviewers and other promoters, are the two posts:
How NOT to get promotion for yourself and your book …
and
HOW to get promotion for yourself and your book …
Please read and heed. And share this blog if you know authors who could benefit from my advice.
Unfortunately, there are enough authors out there who do behave badly that reviewers and promoters have had to steel themselves from abuse by creating seemingly impenetrable guidelines for submissions, and that just ruins it for the rest of the authors who do approach their own writing, publishing, and promotion in a professional manner. I’ve essentially had to close my Reading Recommendations submissions to anything unsolicited, but I also outline how authors may have their work considered for inclusion. As I say, it’s really as simple as 1-2-3!
FREE continuing promotion right under your nose …
READERS will also find this interesting (and they can *see below how they may help), but …
This post is mainly for all you angst-ridden authors out there who moan and groan about how little promotion and publicity you receive for the books you publish. Yes, it’s true, there are definitely fewer outlets reviewing books or interviewing authors. So what are we supposed to do to get the word out and attract new readers to our work?
I have a cunning plan!
When I ePublished my first novel, I received “some” attention (i.e. Not a lot …) for my efforts, but I carried on regardless and continued to promote other authors, as well as my own books, through my business Alberta Books Canada. Then I moved back to the Caribbean and become much more involved in the online writing community, especially with regards to indie authors around the world who were in the same boat as me – wondering how the heck to promote our books effectively. And how to attract new readers to books in general.
Once I became part of that community – of bloggers as well as indie authors – I realized there really WAS a lot of promotion available out there, and simply for the asking. We bloggers all usually have the same problem: what to write about for the next blog post. I discovered there were many sites looking for authors to interview and books to review, and also that were interested in posting guest spots on various subjects. So I began searching for blogs that would be interested in me and my books. Once I had a few links collected of my own promotions, I created a dedicated page for the novel on my own blog. If you click on Island in the Clouds and scroll down the page you’ll see I’ve added every link I could find. (Hint … Use Google to seach not only your own name, but the title(s) of your book(s). You’ll be amazed what comes up there!) This list on my blog is for the benefit of readers who may be interested in finding out more about me and my books. Only now I’m letting all those other sites do the talking for me.
In Nov. 2013, I began publishing another blog, Reading Recommendations, and have promoted more than 300 authors there for over 3 years. Many, many, many of these authors have “paid” me back in kind by reading and reviewing my books, interviewing me, or allowing me to post a guest spot on their blogs. I promote them, they promote me back!
So that’s how I managed to amass such an impressive looking list of promotion links for my novel!
But rather than just sit on my laurels and allow that page and those promotions to go unnoticed, I have regularly gone back to ensure those links were still valid and even reposted them all, one at a time, to social media, either Facebook or Twitter for me, thereby breathing new life into what were at the time (and still are!) excellent promotions of me and my books.
So … here’s my cunning plan for all of you out there looking for FREE ways to continue promoting your work – Do as I have done and repost any links to promotion you’ve received in the past. To make it easier on yourself, I suggest you create a page, as I did, and list everything there. That way it’s easy-peasy to go to the page, click on each link, and share it again, and at any time. I also have a Facebook page for my novels now, Bequia Perspectives Novels by Susan M. Toy, and post to that first then share on my personal Facebook page. My reasoning for reposting all of this early promotion is that I’ve attracted new readers and friends and fans over the years since these links were first published, so there’s bound to be someone out there who will be interested in reading them.
But the other thing I hope will happen – and this is the kicker, is that one of those readers who sees my reposting of promotion on social media will think enough of it to want to share with their own friends. And that, folks, is the beauty of social media … you just have no idea how far these shares will travel or who might be introduced to you and your books simply because you reposted an old promotion. Remember … no matter how long ago you may have published, your book is always new to a reader who has never read it!
Now, because I also promote other authors on my Reading Recommendations blog, I decided to start the repromotion ball rolling for that group and ran this announcement to the Facebook page, Reading Recommendations – a blog for Readers:
Here’s a promotion tip for all authors who have been featured on Reading Recommendations and reading recommendations reviewed … You’re always most welcome to re-post your promotion links anywhere, on your own website, blog and social media. You might just manage to attract new readers to your own work. I’ve been working through the lists alphabetically, trying to repost all of your promotions, but if each of you were to do this for yourselves, as well as for one or two of your fellow authors I’ve featured, there’s no telling how far the reach would be – for everyone! Besides, it’s free promotion and you’ve gotta love that!
That was a couple of days ago and, so far, I’ve noticed only 1 (ONE!) author has taken my suggestion and reposted all her RR promotions to social media. But she’s an author who constantly promotes my blog as well as promotions for other authors, so I wasn’t surprised. I am disappointed, however, that no one else has taken me up on the suggestion. So that’s why I decided to write this blog post, explaining the idea once again, and I hope to reach more of you out there. I encourage you to do as I do, in this case, and promote the pants off of whatever promotion you already have! And, while you’re at it, promote one or two – or more!, of your fellow authors, as well, because it’s not all about you, ya know … and it’s the right thing to do, so let’s share that love around!
The other thing that will happen is you will draw attention to those original links again, to the bloggers and sites where you were promoted – and, believe me, that renewed interest and increased traffic for old posts will not go unnoticed by those bloggers! You’ll be doing them a favour by attracting new readers to their sites, as well.
There you go! How to ensure FREE continuing promotion that’s right under your nose … Now get out there and share!
(And, please, I absolutely, positively encourage you to reblog this blog post on your own blog!)
*READERS, I haven’t forgotten you! Please consider getting in on this idea of free promotion by helping your favourite authors reach new readers. Whenever you see a promotion link posted, share it among your own friends, tell your book club/local library/local bookstore about the author and their books. We appreciate all the help we can get, but when you recommend our books to other readers and make them fans, that’s just pure gold! And we can’t thank you enough!
More Best Bloggers Blogging to check out …
While it was impossible for me to have followed, listed, and awarded in my earlier post every blog I know of that is good, I didn’t want anyone to think they’d been forgotten. So here’s an additional list of blogs, many written by published authors, that are always interesting and informative, and will provide you with great reading! (Some of these bloggers review books, interview authors, run guest posts, reblog regularly from other blogs, and promote new publications, as well as offering solid information on writing and getting published and the book business in general, so if you are an author you would be wise to check out all the blogs on this list.)
And some have reviewed and interviewed me, as well as hosted my guest posts!
Links are included as well for those authors who have been promoted on my blog, Reading Recommendations.
Nicholas C. Rossis – Nicholas C. Rossis ~ Award-winning, dream-protecting author
Connie Flannagan – Everything Indie
Dylan S. Hearn – Suffolk Scribblings
Don Massenzio – Don Massenzio’s Blog, Independent Authors Unite!
Kristina Stanley – KRISTINA STANLEY
S.K. Nicholls – mybrandofgenius
Susan Holmes – Waterside Kennels Mysteries
Stevie Turner – Stevie Turner, Indie Author
Amy M. Reade – Reade and Write – Words and wine by Amy M. Reade
Merilyn Simonds – Books Unpacked Blog
Paul Butler – paul butler novelist: writer, editor, creative writing instructor
Karen Oberlaen – My train of thoughts on… Smile! Don’t look back in anger.
Mary Bailey – 1WriteWay
Sites that list publications and contests to submit to and enter, opportunities for writers:
Aerogramme Writer’s Studio – Books and Writing / News and Resources
For Your Reading Pleasure:
A site that compiles blog posts specifically tailored to your reading interest: Medium (A couple of authors I’ve promoted on Reading Recommendations contribute regularly to this forum.)
Best Bloggers Blogging in 2016!
These past few years (2015 and 2014), I’ve wrapped up twelve months of blogging by listing my favourite bloggers who I have subscribed to and read, and whose blogs I believe would be of interest to my readers. Chris Graham (aka The Story Reading Ape) created this nifty badge that any of the bloggers on my list are welcome to add to their own blogs!
This year’s list is going to look a bit like a roundup of the usual suspects, as so many of my favourite bloggers continue to post to their blogs and write so well. A few of those old favourites have stopped blogging, but there are a few new discoveries this year, and one is a former book publishing colleague who is absolutely new to blogging just this week! So I’ll begin my list this year with the newbies-to-me, for variety sake.
Please do click on the links and check out these great bloggers, if you have not already discovered them yourselves. Follow them! Some offer promotion and they review books or interview authors or host guest posts, many post valuable information on writing and the book biz, even about food and restaurants, and not just a few are also authors in their own right and have been featured on my blog (I’ve linked to their promotion pages), a couple are editors, and there are a couple of longtime personal friends (meaning, I’ve actually met them face-to-face!) in this list, as well.
Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo – Sue Vincent
Happymeerkatreviews: Book reviews – poetry – other musings
Timothy L. Phillips – Camino de Tim
And a new blog by retired publisher Ginny Miller and her husband that I look forward to following. Leaving Ourselves Behind will report on their travels throughout the world.
And the Usual Suspects!
Chris The Story Reading Ape’s Blog … An Author Promotions Enterprise!
Sally Cronin – Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life
Seumas Gallacher – Seumas Gallacher Blog
Tricia Drammeh – Creative State of Mind and Authors To Watch (Reviews and Interviews)
Allan Hudson – South Branch Scribbler
J.P. McLean – J.P. McLean: The Gift Legacy
Betty Jane Hegerat – Betty Jane Hegerat: Canadian author of literary fiction
Matilda Magtree – Carin Makuz
Canary Gal – Gwenith Whitford
Bill Corbett – Marathon Mouth
And a very special mention goes to two extremely inspired blogs that are still being published:
The Litter I See Project by Carin Makuz
and Calgary Through the Eyes of Writers by Shaun Hunter
(Both of these bloggers were profiled on my blog earlier this year.)
If you happen to be looking for some great books to read, check out my Best Books Read in 2016 series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. Or have a look at my two other blogs: Reading Recommendations and reading recommendations reviewed.
Island in the Clouds – rocking around a Pink Christmas Tree!!!
Thanks to Abraham Phillips, who is currently reading both my novels, and sent this photo of Island in the Clouds on his eReader in front of his lovely Pink Christmas Tree! The tree, and Abraham, are located in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, and he is an avid a voracious reader of all books!
So, thanks, Abraham, for playing along in my Where/Who in the World is Reading promotion, but mainly for reading my books!! And for allowing Island in the Clouds to rock around that Pink Christmas Tree of yours!
Books: Publishing, Reading, Writing 