Raging Water Featured at Book Tea

Every year the Springville Community Club puts on a book tea. Different women choose a book they want to talk about and decorate a table to go along with the theme of the book. There is room for 8 women at each table and tickets sell for $20 apiece. Attendees are served tea (of course) and three courses: teeny tiny appetizers, teeny tiny sandwiches, and teeny tiny desserts. Though quite attractive and delicious, though there are several each go around, no one leaves too full.

This year my Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery, Raging Water, was featured at two of the tables. The reason was my friend who begged and begged me to put her in one of my books was featrued in Raging Water as the character Miqui Sherwood. Now I've had several contests where the winner's name gets to be used for a character in a book, but this was different. Miqui Sherwood had the very essence and personality of my friend. Everyone who read it said I nailed her perfectly--and she plays an important part.

So when she told me she was going to decorate two tables in honor of Raging Water of course I bought a ticket. (She'd done this once before for a previous Deputy Tempe Crabtree book where she dressed up like Tempe even to the point of wearing a black wig.)

Because Raging Water takes place right after Christmas, both tables were Christmas themed. In the books Miqui is known for wearing sweaters with the theme of whatever holiday is closest (and that is what she does in real life too), but since it was 107 degrees in Springville that afternoon, she wore a lightweight T-shirt with a Christmas design.

Here are the two tables:

As you can see each table had a Christmas tree, appropriate table cloth, Christmas china, and lots of decorations, including a copy of my book, and she also had a photograph of her two dogs who also had important parts in the story.

Each table hostess gave a brief summary of the particular book they'd chosen, and my friend did a great job telling all about Raging Water.

Despite the heat, I think everyone who came had a great time, I know I certainly did.

Marilyn

Report on my Blog Tour for Raging Water

Many of  you know that I've been on a blog tour all month to promote my latest Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery, Raging Water. I did a few things different and learned some things along the way.

 Though I did visit some of my favorite blogs, I tried out some new ones in hopes that they might have different followers.

I do think in worked. Why? Because I was having a contest that the person who commented on the most blogs could have a character named for him/her in my next book and I wrote down each person's name who left a comment in order to keep track. I have way more names listed than I ever have before.

Even when a blog host asked for a post that was the same subject as another one did, I worked on making the post as different as I could--the same thing for interviews.

Not everyone who has a blog realizes that they can post ahead of time--and these are the folks who don't always remember to put up the post on the day it's supposed to be there. I sent reminders out the week ahead of time to everyone I was visiting that week right after the first week someone forgot. Personally, I couldn't manage all the blogs and posts that I appear on if I didn't post ahead of time.

People love photos. For this tour I tried to send a different photo of me to each person--there were a couple of duplicates. Those who commented loved the photos I put up on Morgan's Spunky Seniors' page that gave a brief chronicle of my life. Spunky Seniors

It is important to check the blog during the day so you can acknowledge comments made by everyone. It always astounds me when a guest on my blog never goes to leave a single comment. I can usually tell if they've done any promoting too by whether or not they have anyone who comments.

That brings me to promoting. I'm sure I drove everyone nuts, but I tried to hit every list I'm on, Facebook and Twitter at least twice a day, and the groups I'm a member of on Facebook.

And that leads to the big questions--did it result in sales? That I won't know the whole answer until my quarterly royalty check comes, but I do know I've already had some folks comment on liking the book, and one said she couldn't wait for a print copy and ordered it on Kindle.

It's always important to put information about your book and yourself on each post and this is what I wrote for each one:

Raging Water Blurb: Deputy Tempe Crabtree’s investigation of the murder of two close friends is complicated when relentless rain turns Bear Creek into a raging river. Homes are inundated and a mud slide blocks the only road out of Bear Creek stranding many—including the murderer.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=raging+water+by+marilyn+meredith&sprefix=Raging+Water%2Cstripbooks%2C365

I know there are some people who like to read a series in order, but let me reassure you that every book is complete. Though the characters grow through each book, the crime is always solved. Here is the order of the books for anyone who wants to know: Deadly Trail, Deadly Omen, Unequally Yoked, Intervention, Wing Beat, Calling the Dead, Judgment Fire, Kindred Spirits, Dispel the Mist, Invisible Path, Bears With Us, Raging Water.

Bio: Marilyn Meredith is the author of over thirty published novels, including the award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, the latest Raging Water from Mundania Press. Writing as F. M. Meredith, her latest Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel us No Bells, the forth from Oak Tree Press. Marilyn is a member of EPIC, three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. Visit her at http://fictionforyou.com and follow her blog at http://marilymeredith.blogspot.com/

Marilyn borrows a lot from where she lives in the Southern Sierra for the town of Bear Creek and the surrounding area.

What I've Been Learning While on My Blog Tour

Every time I do a blog tour for one of my books, I learn something more about doing one.

When I first started doing them, I hired a company to plan and do everything for me. I used them several times and realized that they didn't always pick the best blogs for me to visit. Other things happened and now I'll share some of what I've learned--bet I'll learn more by the time this our for Raging Water is over.

You need to pick people for you tour who have blogs that you've actually visited or know some other way in the Net. It helps if they like the genre that you write. Hopefully you can find some sites that have followers who are readers, not just writers (though some of my biggest fans are writers so don't rule them out.)

You should check to see if the blog you're going to ask to visit has a good number of followers. Doesn't have to be a huge amount, but a good number means there are people actually reading the blog and a regular basis.

I'd love it if everyone got rid of the captcha code. I just got rid of it on mine, I didn't even know it was there. When you leave a comment on someone's site and you can't get past the captcha code after several tires, you probably aren't going to keep trying. I once tried 8 times before succeeding. I would've quit sooner but it was a place I had a guest blog and I was leaving a reply to a comment.

And that brings me to another subject. When you're a guest on someone's blog, for goodness sake go back and check once in awhile and respond to the comments that have been written. I've had several guests on my blog who never came back at all, not even to thank me.

Be sure and promote you post the day that you're a guest. Promote on Facebook, Twitter and every list that you're on. (Yes, I've had guests who never promoted at all. Why bother then?)

Make sure to have something new on every blog. Even if the host asks for the same topic as another, make each one different. We are writers after all, how hard is it to come up with something new.

A contest will keep people following you. If you plan to give away a book, give a different one than the one you are promoting. The idea of a blog tour is to interest someone enough that they'll buy a copy of your new book--if you're offering it as a prize everyone will wait to see if they won and then probably forget about it all together.

A few days before a blog post will appear, send an email to the host reminding them. I've only had one that had completely forgotten. Some wait to put up everything the day before. It's much, much easier when someone puts everything up right away and dates and times the post.

And finally, put up different photos of yourself. I couldn't remember what pictures I'd used and it's been a surprise to me too when I visit the host blog for the first time the day I'm a guest.

The book I'm promoting now is the latest in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, Raging Water.

If you'd like to visit some of my posts, you can got to my blog,Marilyn's Musings and scroll down until you come to one of the places where I've posted the week's schedule.

Marilyn

What I Did on My Summer Vactaion

Remember when we were told to write this as a composition for school? When I was a kid, I always had something exciting to write about where we went and what we did on our vacation. These days it seems almost everything I do is connected to writing and promotion, there were a few exceptions.. Here's a list of what I did from June to now.

Drove to Sedona AZ for a writing friend's 90th birthday party. While there, did a talk at the Well Red Coyote bookstore.

I attended a book luncheon, great food and each table was decorated for a particular book and the hostess of each table spoke about the book. (One year one of my books was featured--this year I sold a book to one of my tablemates.)

I went to two Bunco parties put on by the ladies from church. If you've never been to a Bunco party you haven't lived. (It's one of the silliest games I've ever played but it's a good break from sitting in front of the computer. The proceeds go to the youth activities at church.)

My cousin and her husband came to visit for a day.

Hubby and I drove over to Morro Bay where we stayed in our favorite hotel. I spoke about writing mysteries at the Los Osos Public Library.  The next night, the Central Coast Sisters in Crime hosted us at a lovely dinner party.

In July, I gave my presentation about "How to Write a Mystery" to the San Joaquin Sisters in Crime group.

We also drove over to Las Vegas and visited my sister and while there went on to the Orleans Hotel for the Public Safety Writers Conference. I'm the program chair for this conference, so I'm always busy. I love this conference, the most interesting people attend from all different public safety fields as well as mystery writers who want to learn from the experts. (Everyone comes for writing and promoting tips.)

In August we headed back to the coast but this time we stayed at the Santa Maria Inn. We went to dinner with a writer friend and her husband. The next day I had a booth at the Nipomo Librrary Book and Craft Fair.

Drove up to the mountains and had lunch with a group of writers and gave them my  how to write a mystery presentation in a more informal setting--and sold a few books.

This whole time I was doing Facebook and Twitter promo for No Bells, the latest in my Rocky Bluff P.D. series and planning my blog tour for my next Deputy Tempe Crabtree series, Raging Water.

The tour began September 2nd at http://pat-writersforum.blogspot.com/ with the post "I See Mystery Everywhere."

For the whole tour schedule visit my blog Marilyn's Musings

Believe me, finding people to host, figuring out what to write, writing it and juggling the calendar is a lot of work.

I also read books and wrote reviews for them.

And of course there was the usual stuff, cooking, laundry, grocery shopping, doctor visits, visiting friends in the hospital, teaching Sunday School (I have 3rd through 7th grade--the 7th grader doesn't want to move on, etc)

And how did you spend your summer vacation?

Marilyn

Frustrations With My Latest Book--Maybe Too Much To Do?

Anyone who knows me, knows that I always have a lot going on.

I'm continuing to promote my Rocky Bluff P.D. series, not just the latest, No Bells, because my publisher at Oak Tree Press was generous enough to bring ou the earlier books in the series that had been with a different publisher. Of course I'd like people to read them too, though I've always written each book so it could be enjoyed without reading the earlier ones.

I have a new Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery coming out toward the end of this month. I've been planning a blog tour for it during the month of September. I think I've got all the blogs written, photos chosen, and everything ready to go. I also planned two physical book launches. (Still have to make posters and invitations for those, but they are on my to-do list for later.

I've finished writing the next in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series, no title as yet, and I'm reading it chapter by chapter to my critique group. (Something I do with every new book.)

Now the frustration part. I am about 3/4 of the way through the first draft of the  Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery for next year (yes, I have to juggle those two series if I'm to get two books done a year) and I am at a most critical point. At first, because it's going to be rather dark, I had trouble getting into it. Oh, I do know what's going to happen, though I haven't worked out all the details yet--I'll do that as I go along--experiencing it with Tempe.

When I got all fired up to write, for some reason, the automatic paragraph indent quit working. I have the latest version of WORD which has been the most complicated of all the word processing program to learn--for me at least. I fiddled with this and that, emailed my favorite computer tech, he gave me some complicated directions. I followed them, but not well-enough I guess, because it didn't quite work.

Then I told my publisher for RBPD and she told me to send it to her and she'd try to fix it. Well, she fixed what I'd alread done, but when I started to write, the new stuff didn't work right. Then I discovered I had extra space between my paragraphs which I didn't want.

I tried all different things, things I thought ought to work--but they didn't. Another email to the guru. I worked at it some more--and finally I got it. Guess what, it was now time to fix lunch for hubby.
Plus I was really too frustrated to write.

Deciding to write this blog, I tried to get into the sign in space and nothing would work. When all else fails, turn off the computer and start again. Well, I did that, but Blogger still wouldn't cooperate, so I switched from Firefox to Explorer. Voila! It worked.

Now it's nearly time to fix dinner. Didn't do half of what I hoped to accomplish today. Tonight is my critique group and they always lift my spirits. I do hope your day has been far less frustrating than mine.

Coming soon.

Marilyn who is also known as F. M. Meredith

Planning for the Promotion of Raging Water

Coming Soon!

Most readers and maybe even some writers don't realize how important it is for a writer to have a plan for the promotion of each book. In fact, some publishers make their decision about whether to accept a manuscript based upon whether or not the author has a marketing plan or a least a presence on the web.

Because I write two books a year (one for each of my series) my marketing plan is ongoing and overlaps from one book to the next. The biggest thing I still have to plan is a blog tour for Raging Water. I enjoy doing them and they seem to work fairly well for me. (Anyone here what to host me?)

I've already been letting people know about the book on Facebook and other places. I'm ordering business cards with the cover on one side and the information about the book on the other.

Of course I'm still promoting No Bells and the others in that series.

I had my latest books in both series at the PSWA conference this past week. And I'll be taking books to the Nipomo Library Fall Fair on the 4th of August.

A group of writers in Oakhurst invited me to lunch with them on the 31st of August and that afternoon I'll be presenting my interactive talk on How to Write a Mystery at the Willow Bridge Bookstore.

I will have my books at the Visalia Taste of the Arts in September.  In October, it's the two day Apple Festival in my little town.

In November, we're driving to Redding (6 plus hours) for the Northern California Writers Forum.

And I hope to be participating with the Porterville Art Association for their two day Christmas Craft Sale in December.

And yes, I'm writing. I'm reading the first draft of the next Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel to my critique group and writing a new Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery.

Marilyn