Monday's Helpful Hints - What didn't work - for me.

There are several things I did, as far as I know, (note the caveat here) had little effect on my marketing of my books. I also had a good friend who was a military analyst who agrees with my own results.

It doesn't seem that much benefit is gained from online advertising. It's way down on the list of things that work. I'm not certain about paid advertising in print medium because I've seldom had the money to be able to buy an expensive spread in a retail spot. So I'd have to say - for me at least - paid advertising was a waste of my money.

Also, today, many of the loops devoted to romances, which I write, are full of other authors promoting their books. So, for as much time as I spend on those loops, I doubt I gain much help in selling my own books.

Giving away books also doesn't do a lot either. I have to buy my print books and except for the few copies I get when the book is released in digital form, I must buy the digital book from my publisher if I want to continue to gift the ebook to others. Contests stir up some interest, but giving away a lot of books doesn't seem to aid in my actual sales numbers.

The three best things I do, is first word of mouth. It's been reported that your name has to register at least seven times, before people will begin to recognize you. So, if that premise is true, then you have to have someone talk about you at least seven times before you'll be remembered, they'll have to see your name in print at least seven times before they get it. So, word of mouth is the most important and seeing your name in print is next. That means blogging for others and well as at least one blog for you, tweeting and facebook, and the other forms of internet media.

The third thing I've found that helps is always carrying a bunch of bookmarks (mine are business cards and I'll explain why in a minute). I pass these out to anyone I see reading, in a restaurant, doctor's office, where ever. Of course, I will also pass them out to people I see reading from a digital device like a kindle. I usually ask what they are reading and if it's history, romance, or most forms of fiction, I'll pass out a card or two. I also keep my doctor's office supplied, hand them out at the hospital when I go for blood tests, at the beauty salon, and I add them to almost all of the mail that leaves the house.

Now, why do I use business cards as opposed to regular bookmarks? First, I can make them myself and print as many or as few as I want or print them as I need them. I can print both sides, and let face it, today not everyone uses a bookmark, but people do keep business cards. The stock available is excellent, not horrendously expensive and with the new printers, you can produce a reasonably good product. I put the latest cover of my book on one side and my back list and buy info on the reverse. I'm definitely looking into using a small QR code on my next card.  Don't know what that is? Look it up and you'll notice it's now frequently on all kinds of products.

Okay, I'm a little long again, but there is much to share. I'll wait until next Monday to get into the press kit. So, see you then.

Allison
www.AllisonKnight.com
Heart-warming Romance with a Sensual Touch
Betrayed Bride available from Champagne Books
Lynbrook's Lady coming in August from Champagne Books

An author's shinning moment

Some have asked me what value there is in writing Romance.

There was one shining moment in my early career which gives purpose to what I do.

I'm a retired school teacher but for nearly thirty years I taught school. When I started writing I was teaching Home Economics in the high school. At the time, I was forty something (No woman tells her true age.) I was definitely seen as the grandmotherly type.

One afternoon, as I hurried to the workroom for something, (I don't remember what) one of my male students, a senior, stopped me in the hall. He wanted to know if he could talk to me. He wanted to talk about my novel. By this time, I got a bit defensive if anyone said they wanted to talk about MY book because in my conservative district a romance author teaching Home Ec was frowned on by some parents.

He indicated he wished to have his say someplace private, not in the hallway, so we went to a corner of the library. I assured him we would talk, and I figured, "Oh boy, here it comes again! Another - shame on you, or how could you, or my parents..." I'd heard it all before.

However, once we gained a quiet corner, he hung his head and admitted that my book was the first book he'd ever read. I remember asking if he liked it and all he did was nod.

A couple of years later I ran into that same student in a local bookstore, his arms full of hardbacks, best selling novels and nonfiction books. I got an accusing look and he quiped, "Look what you've done to me. Now I spend all my extra money on books."

If my books convince one young person reading is worthwhile, then my work has succeeded beyond my wildest dreams.

Allison
www.AllisonKnight.com
Heart-warming Romance with a Sensual Touch
Watch for my December short story, "A Matter of Passion"
from Champagne Books

My life is a bit chaotic

I'll begin at the beginning. (grinning) All stories
begin at the beginning.

Last Saturday, my husband went out to the garden shed
at the edge of our property to feed our resident
outside cats and sundry other animals who come to be
fed. He spotted a gray and a yellow tail. Kittens!
When our son arrived to check on us,(he stops by
after work) we told him about the kittens and he
went out to check and came back for a flashlight.

Four, he said. And the shed was no place for them.
So, early Sundy morning he caught all four and brought
them inside to us. I put them in our second bathroom.
The intent was to take them to our vet on Monday morning.

When we got to the vet, his assistant came running out
of the office. They couldn't take them; they already
had kittens running out of their ears. I wasn't about
to take them to the local shelter for they would be
killed. So we found out we needed a big, and I do mean
big, dog cage, cat food, liter box and a place close
to us to tame them.

So I now have four adorable kittens in a cage in my
living room. Which wouldn't be too bad but the other
three adults cats, our cats, are having fits. I have
home for two and hopefully will find homes for the
other two. I'd better find homes for the other two.
My adult cats will not tolerate kittens.

Allison
Heart-warming Romance with a Sensual Touch.

And information about my WIP (work in process)
and my short Story scheduled for a December
release tomorrow.

Christmas mess

Whew! Finally, I can take a deep breath.
I usually make cookies and candy about
two weeks before Christmas. We make up
plates of goodies for friends and delivery
them a day or two before Christmas.

However, this year as I made cookies,
I discovered that after the first sheet
or two of each kind, the next sheets
appeared to have been baked too fast.
By the time I had four different kinds
baked, with the same result, I decided
something was wrong. I used my oven
thermometer to check the temperature.

Okay, so I'm a little slow.

Oh, Yikes! Once I turned on the oven it just kept
heating. So the batches of cookies not quite right
were baked at 450 or more degrees, when they should
have been baked at 375. On top of that, the family
was coming for Christmas and I had a big ham in the
refrig to bake. Fixing the oven the week before
Christmas was not going to happen. (The parts would
take from six to eight weeks to arrive, if they
could figure out what was wrong.)
What do you do?

You go buy a stove, that's what you do.

Right after Christmas, the galley for
"Roses For My Lady" arrived. Between football
games I worked on the galley. The cover is here and
the book will be available in digital format on the
7th of February. I think my covers get better and better!

What do you think?

Happy Reading!

Allison
www.AllisonKnight.com
"Roses For My Lady"
Available in February from Champagne Books

Playing Nursemaid

For several years now, we have all been trying to get
my DH (Darling Husband) to have his right knee repaired.
Years ago, when the kids were younger and we were boating,
we stopped to eat, threw in the anchor, had lunch, the kids
swam, and it was time to leave. My DH was trying to pull
the anchor in, I was at the wheel. He yelled go, I throttled
back a bit too much and he went down, right knee on a
brass chock, a big one; it was a big boat.

Since then he has endured a lot of pain and was getting
to the place where he couldn't walk. Nearly all of our older
friends and relatives have had replacements and done very
well. So he finally relented, had the surgery and I get to play
nursemaid.

Oh, boy! I didn't know what I was in for. My nice kinda
organized life is not the same. Trips to therapy, running
around to make sure nothing's in the way of the walker,
trying to get what he needs where he needs it. Whew!

He has never had a stint in the hospital for any length
of time, nor been this confined...

And I'm not that good a nurse. (grinning) Well I taught
school. I never did much nursing. Fortunately for my kids,
they were very healthy.

Despite my poor attempts at playing the nurse, he's progressing
well. What wonderful things they can do today. He'll be up
and around, and in only a matter of a couple of weeks, new knee
and all. Then maybe I can get some writing done.

Allison
www.AllisonKnight.com
'Heart-warming Romance With A Sensual Touch'
"Battlesong" now available from Champagne Books

Time on the 'net'

I've spent a lot of time on the 'net' this month, and writing for the net.
I've been asked to do a number of articles and blogs with the publication
of my latest book, and although I love doing them, I'm having a hard
time finding time to write.

I took time out this week to sort and straighten the stacks of papers,
hard copies of things I wanted to save when I stumbled across a list
of goals I'd made for myself months ago. I'm ashamed to admit I
haven't met most of those goals.

Oh, I can offer all kinds of excuses, but the truth is I'd forgotten to
remind myself what I intended to get accomplished this month.
I did revise the web page. I have done the promoting I needed to
do, but writing... Will, that took a back seat.

What have I done to improve the situation? Easy. I posted those goals
on my desk, beside my computer. Each time I turn the computer on
or off, I'll see those goals. What is the old saying....

Out of sight, out of mind! I guess for me it applies.

Allison
Battlesong now available from Champagne Books

Promotion Time

Part of the fun, if you can call it that, of being an author
is promotion. Unless you are really big and the publisher
knows they will sell thousands of your books, you must
do a lot of the promoting yourself.

So for the past month, I've been lining up different blogs,
talking to people about interviews, doing articles for
various sites, so I get a chance to get my name out there.

Why? Because there are now so many writers on the net,
some who are brilliant, or even a few who can barely string
one sentence to the next, that you have to wade through the
throng. You can't stand and yell fire on the internet. Nor is
there much of a stage for you to perform by yourself. Nope,
you have to share the spotlight with thousands of other
authors. You do everything you can to stand out from the
group.

There are a lot of novelists who think because a big NY house
bought their book, they can sit back and wait for the money
to roll in. It doesn't happen that way.

You have to let people know what you've written, where to buy
it, what genre it's in and what it's about. Even if you write for
a big NY house. Thank the lord for the net. It does make promotion
easier. But a lot less time consuming? Not a chance.

If you are interested in what I'm doing and where I'm visiting,
visit my web page and take a look at the news and events page.
www.AllisonKnight.com

It should explain a lot.

Now, back to writing the next Great American Romance. (grinning)

Allison
"Battlesong" available from Champagne Books
www.champagnebooks.com
Coming in February a short novelette - "Roses for My Lady_

This business of e-readers

My old Sony reader died. It took forever to load, and
then I wasn't certain the font could be changed. Like
all of the electronic products, life is only about three
years and this was at least that old. I bought it when
the Sony first went on sale.

I was in the process of buying some e-books and I really
didn't want to wait to have a reader shipped to me, so
I spent some time on the internet to see if any local
stores stocked e-readers.

Low and behold, Target had the Sony, and they also carried
the Kindle. Unfortunately, the Kindles were all sold out,
which tells me e-readers are gaining in popularity, even
if major bookstores and publishers don't want to admit it.

I bought the new Sony, with the touch screen and went home
to plug it in and before supper time, it was charged up
and ready to go. No wonder Amazon announced they had
sold more e-books than hard cover books by almost 2-1
in the first quarter of this year.

I guess I'm at the right place at the right time. My books
are available now for the Amazon Kindle, and can be downloaded
from many of the book seller sites that sell e-books. The
ease of loading a book to the reader, the speed of download,
and the ability to read that book right away is just wonderful.
On top of that, I can change the font to large so I can read
with ease. I really do love this.

Allison Knight
"Battlesong" available in August
from Champagne books.

And yes, it's an e-book.

IT'S HERE - ABOUT BATTLESONG

Let me introduce Arthur from
"Heartsong". This is Rhianna's
younger brother and this is his
story.

This is what happens when you write
a book and fall in love with the
characters. You can't let them go.
You don't begin to write a series,
but the characters become so alive
to you that you have to tell the
stories of those who people the book.

And so it is with the family from
"Heartsong." I simple can't stop
thinking about them and what
their lives were like back in the 13th century and
the problems they faced. Arthur made such an impression
that his story appeared out of the blue, just as
Rhianna in "Heartsong" appeared from a song.

The third brother appears in both "Heartsong" and "Battlesong"
but he has to wait for his story because the second brother
must have his story told. I'm working on this one next.
It's called "Windsong", and I'm afraid brother number two
has really had a hard time. He's out for revenge. So
"Windsong" is a tale of revenge. Of course, with all romances
does he get his revenge, or is he captured by the lady who
becomes the instrument of his vengeance?

I know how it ends, but I'm not telling.

Allison
www.AllisonKnight.com
"Battlesong" Available in August
from Champagne Books