RMFW's Fifth Timeline Banner

If you're on Facebook you've been "timelined," and we thought it would be fun to feature book covers from RMFW members as a banner.  But how?  So many amazingly talented members with an astonishing number of fabulous books to choose from!

In the end we thought a montage might work, and here's our fifth banner!

Now for some close up shots of this banner!

Once again I'm ready to fire up the Kindle or head on over to the bookstore.  How about you?

Have you found RMFW on Facebook?  If not, here's the link. And if you haven't yet joined RMFW, here's that link!  

Janet Fogg

Janet is the author of Soliloquy, an award-winning historical romance, and co-author of the military history best seller, Fogg in the Cockpit.

RMFW's Fourth Timeline Banner

If you're on Facebook you've been "timelined," and we thought it would be fun to feature book covers from RMFW members as a banner.  But how?  So many amazingly talented members with an astonishing number of fabulous books to choose from!

In the end we thought a montage might work, and here's our fourth banner!

Now for some close up shots of this banner!

Once again I'm ready to fire up the Kindle or head over to the bookstore.  How about you?

Have you found RMFW on Facebook?  If not, here's the link. And if you haven't yet joined RMFW, here's that link!  

Janet Fogg

Janet is the author of Soliloquy, an award-winning historical romance, and co-author of the military history best seller, Fogg in the Cockpit.

RMFW's Third Timeline Banner

If you're on Facebook you've been "timelined," and we thought it would be fun to feature book covers from RMFW members as a banner.  But how?  So many amazingly talented members with an astonishing number of fabulous books to choose from!

In the end we thought a montage might work, and in September we shared the first cover banner and in October we shared the second. We said there would be more and here's our third banner!

Now for some close-up shots of this banner:

Once again I'm ready to fire up the Kindle or head on over to the bookstore.  How about you?

Have you found RMFW on Facebook?  If not, here's the link. And if you haven't yet joined RMFW, here's that link!  

Janet Fogg

Janet is the author of Soliloquy, an award-winning historical romance, and co-author of the military history best seller, Fogg in the Cockpit.

RMFW's Second Timeline Banner

If you're on Facebook you've probably been "timelined," and we thought it would be fun to feature book covers from RMFW members as a banner.  But how?  So many amazingly talented members with an astonishing number of fabulous books to choose from!

In the end, we thought a montage might work, and in September we shared the first cover banner that was posted on Facebook.  Yes, there will be more! In fact, here's our second banner!

Now for some close-up shots of this banner:

Once again I'm ready to fire up the Kindle or head over to the bookstore.  How about you?

We'll be changing the banner periodically to share even more book covers from RMFW members, so keep an eye on our Facebook page. What? You haven't found us on Facebook?  Here's the link. And if you haven't yet joined RMFW, here's that link!  

Janet Fogg

Janet is the author of Soliloquy, an award-winning historical romance, and co-author of the military history bestseller, Fogg in the Cockpit.

RMFW's First Timeline Banner

If you're on Facebook you've probably been "timelined," and we thought it would be fun to feature book covers from RMFW members as a banner on our RMFW page.  But how?  So many amazingly talented members with an astonishing number of fantastic books to choose from!

In the end, we thought a montage might work, and here's the first cover banner that has been shared on Facebook.  (Yes, there will be more!)

Now for some close-up shots of the banner:

Makes me want to fire up the Kindle or head over to the bookstore.  How about you?

As mentioned, we'll be changing the banner periodically to share even more book covers from RMFW members, so keep an eye on our Facebook page. What? You haven't found us on Facebook?  Here's the link. And if you haven't yet joined RMFW, here's that link!  

On behalf of the Chiseled in Rock team,

Janet Fogg

Janet is the author of Soliloquy, an award-winning historical romance, and co-author of the military history bestseller, Fogg in the Cockpit.

Getting Online with RMFW and Colorado Gold

By Pat Stoltey

If you’re attending the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Conference in Denver this weekend, and if you’ll have your laptop or a gadget with access to the web, here are a few things you’ll want to know.

Twitter

The official RMFW Twitter ID is: @RMFWriters

Watch for and use this hashtag for conference tweets: #RMFW2012

The Twitter ID for Chiseled in Rock blog is: @Chiseledinrock


Facebook

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers is here:
https://www.facebook.com/rockymountain.fictionwriters

Chiseled in Rock blog is here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/234259013309874/


Hope to see you this weekend.

Facebook for Writers

I think we all know by now that Facebook is taking over the planet. It has captured a whopping ten percent of the world’s population. So it should come as no surprise that Facebook is a great way for writers to connect with and build a readership.

One of the things I like best about Facebook is that it is less serious and more fun than other styles of promotion. The key is getting your Facebook friends involved, talking about, and commenting on you, your blog, your stories and upcoming books. Here are some tips on how to drum up a bunch of excitement:

• Pictures and videos -- Create or find interesting or funny pictures and video clips that are relevant to your writing and post them on your wall. Invite people to comment and be sure to post your own comments on how this relates to your writing.
• Contests -- My favorite mystery writer, Carolyn Haines, had a marvelous series of contests leading up to the launch of her most recent book. She posted hilarious pictures and invited her friends to submit captions or short stories. The best captions received a copy of her book. Not only was it a lot of fun but people encouraged their friends to join the contest so that they could win one of Carolyn’s books.
• Networked blogs -- This free Facebook application will automatically take the title and an image from your latest blog posting and post it on your Facebook wall. That way every time you post to your blog you won’t have to remember to tell your friends about it, they’ll already see it on your wall. All you need to do is post comments to get the conversation started. Here’s a link to the Networked Blogs app: http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/index.php?ref=ts
• Special events -- Facebook has a wonderful event tool that writers don’t use often enough. Use the event tool to announce upcoming blog tours, book signings, book launch parties, and more. You can send out personal invitations to all of your facebook friends. They can sign up to attend and get any comments or updates to your event.
• Polls & voting -- get your readers involved by having them vote on book covers, potential titles, and even suggestions for you should play your character if it were to become a movie. Readers love giving input and feeling like they are part of writing experience. You can get them to vote by simply by asking folks to post comments or you can get snazzy by using one of the Facebook voting applications such as Polls. You can find it here: http://apps.facebook.com/opinionpolls/ .

These tools get your friends involved and talking about your writing. You can easily connect them to your blog and upcoming events. Most importantly, you make them feel that they are important... and who doesn’t like to feel important?

Next week we’ll start looking at techniques to build your following on Twitter.

From Tamela Buhrke

A Writer’s Social Media Resolution

Last year I transitioned from using social media for my business to using it for writing. As with any new toy, I was very excited about it for the first month or two. Then life got very busy. I knew that in order to be effective, social media needed to be done regularly. But it was hard to keep up with it when life got hectic. How could I be consistent?

Well, my efforts resembled a seven-year-old on his first trampoline. Weee! Some days were up and I was tweeting like a mad woman, posting on Facebook and meeting new friends. Unfortunately, other days were down and it was all I could do to open a browser window. Sadly, for a little while I bounced right off and the days turned into weeks. Did a month really go by without a tweet? Yep, and the numbers at my blog reflected it.

It was the old song and dance. I was too busy, writing and overworking myself. It's true, but isn’t it true for all of us? Yet, some people are out there every day. How do they do it?

I’m putting my bet on planning. Doesn’t it always revolves around that?

So this year my resolution is to be more consistent in my social media efforts. In order to do that, I’ve decided on a few strategies:

1. I will write a few extra tweets each week and gather interesting links. These extra tweeks will not be posted right away but saved for the days when things get hectic.
2. I will schedule a few automated tweets to go out every day (more about this later).
3. I will plan out a series of facebook topics for the year.

Using these methods, my social media campaign should be consistent even on the days when I am not.

I know what you are thinking, social media is about authenticity. You hate those people who automate their tweets and facebook posts. This is not about about abusing the automation. I still plan to make regular appearances. It will just help to write some of them when I have more time.

Plus, automation is not my daily strategy. It is just to fill in those days when tweeting just can’t be on the agenda. For me, knowing that a scheduled tweet is going out will actually motivate me to get on my social media accounts, even if I’m overwhelmed or tired. Because, basically, I’m like a kid passing a note in school. I just can’t help but want to see how people respond. So this little cheat with the automation will actually motivate me to get online to see who made comments. It will make me more consistent and prevent the days from turning into weeks.

That is my New Years resolution.

How about you? This month I will be exploring using social media for writers. I’d love to hear from you about what has worked and what has bombed and what frustrates the hell out of you.

Next Wednesday I’ll be serving up fried Twitter Bird sandwiches. It's the new white meat.

Posted by Tamela Buhrke

Adventures in Online Book Promotion

As I explore the Internet, looking for unique ways to promote books online, I’m seeing more and more new ideas. I’m one who often thinks, “I wish I had thought of that,” followed by, “But wow, that looks like a lot of work.” These events take time, and most have an unproven impact on book sales. Still, ignoring the Internet as a marketing tool is not an option.

The first wave of online marketing for authors came with e-mail lists and groups, blogs, and social media sites devoted to readers and writers. Soon to follow were professional and personal networking sites. Then came blog book tours.

RMFW member Beth Groundwater’s May 2009 virtual tour for To Hell in a Handbasket was one of the first I followed. With one advance teaser followed by twenty-three stops over a month’s time, Beth had to write all those posts and respond to interviews, then follow each of the host blogs for days to reply to comments.

Many authors are using blog book tours these days, but there are more promotional opportunities popping up. As we tackle any new project, we need to remember this: To tap into your creativity, think outside the box. Look what these hardworking authors did:

Carolyn Poling Schriber. Her book launch party for Beyond All Price lasted three days with guest authors’ articles displayed on the party home page according to a set schedule. There were even virtual refreshments, recipes included.

Alex J. Cavanaugh. He created an audience of 400+ followers for his own excellent blog by diligently leaving comments as he traveled the Internet making friends. When it was time for his sci fi novel, CassaStaR to release in October 2010, he had plenty of helpers willing to post his trailer on the official book release date.

London author Talli Roland. The Hating Game, Talli’s debut novel, is scheduled for e-book release (ahead of the hardcover edition) on December 1st. More than 225 bloggers have signed up for the Web Splash! scheduled for that date. The goal is to get that all-important buzz going around the world.

Blogging and building an audience of followers is the base for most of these activities. When you add the contacts on Facebook and Twitter to the mix, it’s easy to see how these events help spread the author’s name and book title.

If you’ve had an interesting and productive experience with online marketing, please tell us more. Come on, leave a comment. You know you want to.

Pat