Posts Tagged ‘marketing’

Wonderful! The Mark of a Druid Made #17

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009

Photo by Henry Diltz

Welcome Readers!

Mathew Wayne Selznick, the author of Brave Men Run, has been tracking Podiobook.com authors for the last couple of months. If you would like to read his blog post check his site at http://www.mattselznick.com/blog/scribtotum/2009/02/17/the-top-podiobooks-at-amazoncom/ I enjoy Mathew’s perspective on social networking and dig that he is so inventive, not only as a writer but as a podcaster, musician and DIY media guru. I actually attended a house concert he held on http://www.ustream.tv a short few weeks ago! It was so much fun.

The book made the number 17 slot for the Top 20 Podiobooks on Amazon.com And my dear friend Arlene Radasky author of The Fox Made the 19 slot! Among the other top podiobook authors I feel sure the only reason we made the list is because of the timing of the study, but I don’t care it is really cool to see my name right up there with the big folks of podcasting. Like Scott Sigler, Mur Lafferty, Jalal al-Din Rumi, Matthew Wayne Selznick, Bill DeSmedt, Tee Morris, Philippa Ballantine, Seth Harwood, Leslie Ann Moore, Mark Jeffrey, Joe Cottonwood. Congratulations to everyone who made this top twenty list.

This week will be the last posting of The Mark of Druid podcast so look for it to hit late in the week. The audio book is out there in full so please go listen and leave a comment and rate the book where ever you listen.

This blog is changing scheduled and will now come out every other week. So write to you all in two weeks!

Remember to enter The Mark of a Druid 2009 Contest in the 2009 Contest Series at. This Contest winners will be announced On March 5, 2009 the weekly blog on the book site www.themarkofadruid.com blog to enter and win the next round! The new website should be up in the next 4 weeks! It is all about Twitter follow me at @rhondacarpenter. And a huge thank you to Trucker Rich for his fabulous interview! See it at His Blog!

Keep Writing, I know I will!

Rhonda R. Carpenter

The Mark of a Druid is Now Whole and Free!

Sunday, February 15th, 2009

Photo by Henry Diltz

Welcome Readers!

This week I uploaded the last chapter (episode 33) in Book One of The Mark of a Druid Series!

Next week will be the final upload for this podcast. I will be producing this week the first chapter for When Ethers Descend. This is the next book in the series. And while it is not yet wholly written, I wanted you all to get a taste for book two.

What is next for The Mark of a Druid?

A larger presence as a PDF and other formats is in order! I hope to even catch up with Arlene Radasky’s The Fox, and make it to iphone and digital formats.

I also ask for listener help last week on www.themarkofadruid.com I meant it and wanted to say thank you to all of the listeners that commented both live and in email form. Thank you! I have taken your comments seriously and have reproduced episode 1 and 2 this week. They are now live. I hope they are better. I will be reproducing episode 3 this week and I hope I will be able to maintain the schedule this week and have it live on Sunday afternoon. But either way I want to you know your comments are greatly appreciated and I am doing something about the stilted speaking patterned you all noticed in the first 3 episodes along with Quality. These were the episodes I recorded in my old office so unless there is something else you guys notice these will be the only ones I redo. This pod cast novel has been a huge learning experience for me and I am thrilled that it is getting such great reviews again keep them coming. And if you know someone who prefers to read the book is available at Amazon!

Now for the what’s next? Section a new colleague and I are working on a podcasting idea and when it is firmed up I’ll be share it. Until then, know I am writing every day! YES! It feels great!This Week’s Recommendation: I suggest you go nab Fractured Horizon By H.E. Roulo. She is a wonderful author and her book is now complete and free for you to enjoy. It is a hot story that has a logical and fun plot line. Technology and cloning a race of superior warriors called the Adams vs. the Royals who have some very interesting capabilities themselves. And Kay her main character, is someone I have had a blast flowing through time with. Don’t miss this one go to Podiobooks.com and get all the episodes now. You won’t be disappointed, I loved it and am now looking forward to listening again straight through!

Visit her blog at Fractured Horizon Novel’s official site!  

Click here to hear the Promo Now!

Remember to enter The Mark of a Druid 2009 Contest in the 2009 Contest Series at http://www.themarkofadruid.com.This week’s winners will be announced in just a few hours in the weekly blog on the book site. The new contest #4 will also be announced and will end on 3/01/2009 enter and win the next round!

Keep Writing, I know I will!

Rhonda R. Carpenter

If at any time you need to contact me please send and email to info@rhondacarpenter.com!

The Mark of a Druid Complete and Free!

Sunday, February 8th, 2009

Photo by Henry Diltz

Welcome Readers!

That is right! The entire audio book is complete and ready for upload over the next week or so it will all be out there and available for free on Podiobooks.com

As this phase of production comes to a close and I move forward with the other books I am writing I am looking for ways to continue spreading the word about the Mark of a Druid and its availability. In that realm I am continuing to schedule interviews to talk about the series. My next interview is with Behind the Mike hosted with Joel Michalec.  This should be a fun interview and I am very excited about please join us on Feb 17 6:30 pm PST on his blog talk radio show http://www.blogtalkradio.com/BehindTheMike

I am asking for comments and receiving them which is really cool. Especially since the book is not completely out there yet. Thank you Itunes, podiobooks and Amazon fans. In an effort to honor the you I will be releasing a sample of When Ethers Descend. So all you listeners out there stick around to hear the teaser chapter of the sequel.

The Mark of a Druid 2009 Contest #3 in the 2009 Contest Series at http://www.themarkofadruid.com . This contest will end on February 15th

This weeks recommendation. Do you like to laugh? Love a silly story about real life? Then Check out http://jdaze.weebly.com/index.html  This show has been very entertaining and I have laughed out loud.

Keep Writing, I know I will!

Rhonda R. Carpenter

The Rush is on and the Promo for Dark Matter is Out!

Friday, January 30th, 2009

Photo by Henry Diltz

Welcome Readers!

There is nothing I have found more exciting as seeing a desire or dream happen and happen bigger than you ever imagined.

When you spend years doing something and then find this incredible way to put it out into the world, for me it is tremendously excited. I hope that all of you will get excited too. Things are changing in the publishing world and while I believe there will always be paper books I think that podcasting and audio as well as PFD and other electronic forms are just going to become more and more popular.

I have struggled with many aspects of putting this book out there, The Mark of a Druid, into print and podcast; having said that, it has been fun to take this first journey into publishing in several different venues at the same time. The journey is not over by a long shot. When Ethers Descend is in progress and I am so excited about having time to write on a grander scale.

Marketing is one of my biggest challenges. So please bare with me through this weekend when the formal release happens. I will be twittering about the numbers on February 1, 2009 throughout the day. We Arlene Radasky and I will be telling our friends on all of our social networking sites. It will be this one day that we are asking you to help us rise in the Amazon.com rankings by purchasing our books and/or rating, commenting, reviewing The Fox and The Mark of a Druid.

Our interview with www.horroraddict.net went live last night. It is very funny and the bloopers are classic. Gary and Ruth from the www.celticmythpodshow.com have placed a written interview in their blog. www.Podiobooks.com have posted an author news blog about the rush called the Celtic Bums Rush.

Learn more about upcoming web event at The Buzz http://www.themarkofadruid.com/mod/?page_id=376

Remember to enter The Mark of a Druid 2009 Contest #2 in the 2009 Contest Series at http://www.themarkofadruid.com. This week’s winner will be announced in just a few hours in the weekly blog! Win a free singed copy of The Mark of a Druid and other very cool Celtic stuff this week it is a Sterling Silver Celtic Cross. The Next Winner to be announced 2/01/2009 During the Rush!

This weeks recommendation. Do you like horror? Then you should check out Dark Matters By Michele Roger She is so spooky!

Keep Writing, I know I will!

Rhonda R. Carpenter

What is in a Number?

Sunday, January 25th, 2009

Photo by Henry Diltz

Welcome Readers!

I love the era we live in as I write this blog I am listening to Mathew Wayne Selznick perform a live virtual concert from his home on usteam.tv. Amazing stuff is happening out there and I encourage you all to join in the fun. I mean really how cool is that! I must say though, it is hard to hold your bic in the air and type at the same time. The concert rocked. Thank you Mathew Wayne Selznick hope you do it again soon.

So numbers, I have been sort of watching numbers since I started podcasting The Mark of a Druid and since the book became available on Amazon, I have watched the numbers in comparison to what I am doing to promote the novel in all its forms online. And while it is totally cool to be in the charts on podiobooks and I expect to be back there when the book is out in its entirety. So as of today here is were the numbers stand or lay as the case may be. What I love is that people are listening and reading and commenting so thank you all!

Subscribers through Podiobooks.com 295 folks are listening on Podiobooks.com

Itunes counts their downloads singularly so there is no way to know exactly how many subscribers there are but so far 13,873 files have been downloaded of 25 available episodes from the Itunes format.

The hosting company that shows the numbers says to date total downloads from the first episode to now is 18,604. Love it!

4015 of those are from www.themarkofadruid.com

Juice and Zoon are neck and neck with 335 each. Then there are several small numbers from other locations on the web.

Now lets look at amazon.com. These are ranking numbers and the lower you get the better. That a means if you have a number 1 book that is as good as it gets. The category that The Mark of a Druid falls under is General Fiction/Fantasy. Huge category, which means lots of competition and I will be the first to admit that I am just learning about all of this ranking and numbering stuff. But I do understand that the lower your number the more frequently a book will come up in the search criteria for Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

There is a beta site http://www.titlez.com/welcome.aspx that shows sales rankings Their best raking so far has been 116,187 The worst 957,793 Not bad. Today The Mark of a Druid is Ranked 1,360,834. Here is where you guys come in. Amazon’s ranking today#852,705 in Books. Each time you leave a comment, rate the or buy the book, the ranking changes. On February 1, 2009 I hope to see this ranking drop under the hundred thousand mark. So please Join in the fun and watch the numbers with me.

Remember to enter The Mark of a Druid 2009 Contest #2 in the 2009 Contest Series at http://www.themarkofadruid.com. The winner will be announced in next Sundays blog. You must play to win but there is no purchase required. Contest #2 is a Sterling Silver Celtic Cross. The Next Winner to be announced 2/01/2009 on the formal release date of The Mark of a Druid in print form.

On February 1, 2009 Arlene Radasky and I are formally releasing our two Celtic novels. Please go to  Valentines Sweet Idea for your sweetheart. Help us be seen on Amazon.com.

Keep Writing, I know I will!

Rhonda R. Carpenter

Spreading the Word

Sunday, January 18th, 2009

Photo by Henry Diltz

Welcome Readers!

I want to shout out a huge thank you to a number of folks who are going out of their way to leave reviews, rate and leave comments for The Mark of a Druid. Then I am going to do the same thing for a number of folks who are out there playing our duel release promos and other promos in support of Arlene Radasky’s The Fox and Rhonda R Carpenters’ The Mark of a Druid.

Podiobooks: Thank you, Rennie, JaneInPA, Barry, Theresa, Ren&Merlin, Emerian, Rowan, Arlene, Miss Amie; You are all very kind and it truly a joy to have comments good or bad so that I can gage how I am doing in the endeavor and it really helps other people decide to listen.

Itunes: Thank you, Audrey67, Tabitha, Winerebel; I know Itunes doesn’t make it easy to leave a review so I wanted to be sure you knew I do appreciate you reviews and am so please you are loving the book. One of you said that you couldn’t wait and went and bought a copy, Thank you and if you email me your address I will be happy to send you a free signed bookplate so your copy is autographed.

Amazon: A.R., Devoted Reader, P.B., Rowan, Dr. Sally Witt; You thoughts and comments a truly appreciated and on Amazon mean more than just a comment they help this book move up in the rankings so that it comes up on searches in its area more frequently. So Thank you!

And a huge thank you to all the podcasters out there that are playing the push promo and helping us spread the word. JDAZE podcast, Edwardgtalbot.com, Celticmythpodshow.com, Michele Rogers, Horroraddicts.net, The Dr. Sally Witt Show, Jeremy James. Thank you for all you do!

Learn more about upcoming web event at The Buzz http://www.themarkofadruid.com/mod/?page_id=376

Yesterday Arlene Radasky and I did a very fun interview with Dr. Sally Witt on Blog Talk Radio. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Dr-Sally-Psychic-Healer/2009/01/17/Two-Celtic-Time-Travel-Themed-Authors-Psychic-Rhonda-Carpenter-open-for-Readings This interview is two fold and available in the achieves of her show. The first hour Arlene and I talk about how we met and why we are releasing our books together in time for Valentines Day. You can hear each of us read from the books and it is a fun hour, the second hour was an open reading hour with myself and Dr. SallyWitt! Very fun!

Today Arlene and I had a recorded interview with Emerian Rich of http://www.horroaddicts.net and http://www.emzbox.com. I had so much fun doing this interview too. Emz is a h00t. I love her show and I am soaking up her tips on how to more scary! I believe Episode #016 will air on 1/29/09 where the co-authored horror short that Arlene Radasky and I wrote, Walk-In will be played for your listening pleasure.

In Honor of Emerian Rich I am featuring her this week.

 

http://www.horroraddicts.net/

Tune in and listen to what is happening in the Horror Addicts world of books, movies, music, events and podcasting.

Emerian Rich

Emerian Rich

This is a face you just want to sew buttons on? Hold Still!

There you go. Now you belong forever! All messing around aside, I love her show and I am enjoying her pod novel Nights Knights By Emerian Rich and you can get that free here http://podiobooks.com/title/nights-knights  

Remember to enter The Mark of a Druid 2009 Contest #2 in the 2009 Contest Series at http://www.themarkofadruid.com. This week’s winner will be announced in just a few hours in the weekly blog! Win a free singed copy of The Mark of a Druid and other very cool Celtic stuff this week it is a Sterling Silver Celtic Cross. The Next Winner to be announced 2/01/2009.

I actually got time with all the marketing going on to write some on the next book in The Mark of a Druid series, When Ethers Descend.

Keep Writing, I know I will!

Rhonda R. Carpenter

Get This Story Out of My Head!

Sunday, January 11th, 2009

Photo by Henry Diltz

Welcome Readers!

This has been a very interesting busy week here in what I call the Vortex.

It has been challenging with all of the things happening on the marketing front, Podcasting front and personal front to get any new writing done. I ask myself this week why aren’t you writing. This story is screaming in your head and you need to get it out.

I discovered to my shock and horror that the answer was, “I don’t have time.” Immediately my personal coaching brain said, “Liar! Yes you do. You must make time in what ever way you can with your schedule. Stop with the excuses and just do it.”

The internal struggle was on. You know that fight that goes off in your brain about where to put something you want to do when things are really busy. My fight went something like this. “Take something off your plate so you can put this on. There isn’t anything I can take off. Get a platter! No, no, no, you will get sick if you take on anymore. You are running on 4 to 5 hours of sleep a night and you know if you don’t get at least 6 to 8 your migraines are worse. Think outside the box, Rhonda.”

That was the key! I simply hadn’t thought of the option I had in front of me. I didn’t need to write it or type it to get it out of my head. I needed to be able to save it. Right? So out comes the micro recorder and I so could have done this on my computer if I had been in the office, but I wasn’t going to be. I had to be out for several days this week. The time in my car is pretty much downtime. I don’t talk on a cell and drive. I usually listen to books or music on the road. I was caught up on the books I committed to reviewing so this was a prefect way to still get the story out of my head and saved. Sure, I would have to type it later but that is easy to do and there is ALWAYS editing to do.

Problem solved. I reordered that part of the story and will type it up in a few days. See I get up every morning and want to write. It is a joy to bang out a story and play and develop the characters and plot lines. And just because I am marketing for the formal release of The Mark of a Druid and the 2009 Contest Series doesn’t mean I should stop the creative process of writing forward.

I guess you could apply this to anything you want to do. Maybe you answer isn’t’ a micro recorder, but if you think outside of the box and don’t place limits on what the answer might be it will come to you.

So what stops you from writing? Put yourself in check. Stop letting your excuses win. If you love to write like I do—then it is time to write in whatever way you can. Let me share this secret with you. No one is going to write it for you. It is your story, your idea, maybe even your dream. Don’t give up on it. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t let it keep rattling around in your head. You will feel better if you get it out and by doing so you are creating a stronger desire to go for the dream.

Announcements

Remember to enter The Mark of a Druid 2009 Contest series at http://www.themarkofadruid.com under last weeks blog you will find the questions for Contest #1 and the Contest 2009 page has all the rules. Win a free singed copy of The Mark of a Druid. The first Winner to be announced 1/18/2009.

Write to you next week!

Rhonda R. Carpenter

Can Marketing Your Novel be Fun?

Sunday, January 4th, 2009

Photo by Henry Diltz

Welcome Readers!

Until February 2008 I had never marketed my business. As a professional psychic all of my clients were referral only. As Clinical Hypnotherapist I to relied on refferals to build my client base, the most marketing I ever did was in creating www.lifefirst.com and nurturing it to over 3 million hits a month with little effort on my part. I simple provided a great layout and easy navigation (via a brilliant Web Guru) and give people what they wanted tons for free content and not a lot of sale pushes. Word of mouth, client to client is still the best way to get business by far.

But as a published author I need to learn all the ways I can tell people that my book is out and available, hopefully by not being obnoxious. Because I dislike shameful promotion I try not to go there and am very aware that there is the backlash effect that can occur if you try and ram your stuff at people. And to be honest completely, the here’s what I think about me, what do you think about me thing is boring and seems narcissistic to me.

The thing I want to do is have fun with my writing, publishing and marketing things I do. Here are a few things I have done in the past few months to market my book that were fun for me.

  1. I started social networking big time on the web.
  2. I started writing blogs in a very consistent way.
  3. I have started a contest for the book which kicks off tonight on www.themarkofdruid.com
  4. I teamed up with other writers who are either podcasting and/or publishing. (the ideas these folks have are amazing)
  5. I have done and agreed to do several interviews on blogtalkradio and other internet podcasts which can just be a blast.
  6. I have met and made friends with all kinds of podcasting folks who are more than willing to play a promo read a chapter of my work, add me as a contributor to their site, read a story so far for their podcasts.

The action of trying to make the marketing fun has been very successful. I love getting up in the morning and twittering from the Vortex, there is a new The Mark of a Druid group on facebook and while myspace is not my favorite I am still trying it out. So I invite you to join me in the marketing party. If you have a book, podcast, blogtalkradio show or a Ustream show or other media event send me a promo and a short one line elevator pitch with a picture of cover if you like and let me help you get the word out! Send your email request to info@rhondacarpenter.com.

I am looking forward to sharing a prolific year with all of you. Please keep the comments coming and the reviews and ratings on Amazon, iTunes and podiobooks they really help!

Remember to check out the contest announcement for the first giveaway at http://www.themarkofadruid.com under the contest 2009 page.

Happy 2009 lets have a fabulous year together!

Rhonda R. Carpenter