I sincerely believe blogging is about more than promoting, selling or making money. This site is my author webpage as well as my personal blog. It is my way of connecting with readers, friends and fellow bloggers. It’s the place I tell about what’s happening in my life, be it writing, books, publishing, marketing, parenting, grand parenting, gardening, living in a rural setting, travelling.
My blog is where I pay it forward when it comes to supporting other self-published authors. I recently started a series where I invite self-published authors to do a guest post related to how location plays an integral role in their writing. I’ve regularly posted book reviews and interviews and promoted these far and wide through my social media network.
In terms of valued-added, I’ve blogged a number of times about my experience with self-publishing in the hope that some of the things I’ve learned through trial and error might help someone else. Always we are standing on a continuum with others ahead of us and others behind. As we reach for a hand up, I firmly believe we should be reaching back to help others climb.
I also host a spin-off blog called Saying What Matters where I write posts dedicated to effective communication skills. This is my way of sharing with others the experience and training that I’ve had the privilege to obtain.
You might be thinking – where is the hat part? We get that you’ve paid your dues, now you get to the point.
Okay, here it comes.
If you’ve stopped by my blog and considered reading either of my books at some later date – maybe that date has arrived. If you’ve read Disappearing in Plain Sight or The Light Never Lies and thought about doing a review to put up on Amazon or Goodreads – maybe today is the day. No time like the present – right?
This plant is sometimes called Love Lies Bleeding – oh, the author’s lament – right?
You will find Disappearing in Plain Sight for sale on the following sites:
The Nook Store at Barnes and Noble
The Light Never Lies is available on the following sites:
Kindle, Kobo, Nook, and all e-reading devices, I’ve got you covered. Many thanks in advance to all readers and followers who respond to my hat in hand request. No good deed goes unnoticed. My gift today is the beauty of a few flower shots from our garden done on macro setting. Enjoy.
disappearinginplainsight 
Francis: You are wonderful, both as a person and as a writer. On behalf of myself, but I know others as well, thank you for all you have done for us. I will get ahold of the book, and you can expect a review coming your way. Thanks again. Ron
Thanks for these kind words, Ron. I always look forward to hearing what fellow authors think of my work. It was a pleasure to highlight your book, The Woods, on my location, location series.
Compassionate tales of humanities predicament,
well written,
offered in accessible portions!
Accessible portions – I love that – I sure don’t want anyone (including myself) to bite of more than they can chew. All things in moderation, as the saying goes. Always love to see your icon pop up on my blog.
Generally I wish that more readers would take a few minutes to write reviews of books that they read. Even more so in the case of self-published books. It means a great deal to the author especially at a time where competition is fierce.
Generally, I agree, Roy – LOL – what can you do? Everyone is busy. I can attest to that fact. For the general public, I think it’s a matter of education. I never even thought of writing a review for a book before I published my own. With fellow indie authors – in a publishing field where we all know competition is brutal and reviews really do matter – I’m not so sure. I do know some self-published authors have a policy of not reviewing the work of fellow self-published authors for fear of seeming suspect and to be fair to that position – at times Amazon takes down reviews when they seem to be reciprocal between self-published authors. The old – I’ll scratch your back with five stars if you’ll scratch mine. That has never happened to me and I’ve been in the reciprocal process without the scratching part. Seems a deep can of worms, for sure.
That I feelI know where you are coming from! They are ‘jolly good books’ and deserve reviews! ANd, love the flower photos – cornflower superb – have lots of those in my garden too, bees love ’em.
Thanks, Clare 🙂 The flowers of spring make my heart sing. Bring on the bees.
‘Know where you’re coming from’ as a fellow (Indie) author! If we do not promote our work, who else will? Off to meet a friend and thinking that shd write a blog post on the train… sketch one out in a notebook that is, for typing later … don’t risk my laptop on a train.
Love the photographs. Is this just upur blog or can anyone join and blog here?
Do please get back to me. I do boogon wordpress, but as I am new, and not techy, I fu d the funer details, like adding photos as well a print, a bit confusing. Have done it once or twice but seem to have lost the plot.
Evelyn
Anyone can blog on WordPress but it seems you already have a wordpress blog, Evelyn. I’ve been doing mine for almost two years now and it has been a learning curve to figure out exactly how to get my posts looking the way I want them to. The best thing, for me, was the discovery of Windows Live Writer – a program that is available on my computer as part of Windows. It basically interfaces with WordPress and allows me to use a few features I wouldn’t have simply working on the WordPress platform. This is starting to sound techy and I’m not too techy myself.
Your posts are always thought provoking and filled with good information for us Indie Authors. I very much appreciate it. And I love your writing.
Thanks, P.C. We’re all in the same boat, I suppose. Just trying to find ways to get our heads above the water.
Boy, can I relate, Fran! And this is really where the indie scene is a different universe compared with traditional publishing, where you have, nominally at least, people working on your behalf to sell books. As an indie, it’s all you, and when things aren’t moving you feel — well, defeated.
Don’t forget, though, we have a long-term plan… really long-term. 😉
Thanks for the reminder, Kevin. So true – it is the long-long-term plan – maybe something like a 30-year mortgage. Hope no one comes along to foreclose.
In the UK traditionally published authors are in much the same boat as indie authors — they are expected to undertake much of their own promotion. Unless of course they are a big name, big return on investment writer.
I find many fellow authors don’t write reviews as they don’t read the type of book others have written, which seems to me a very narrow attitude for a writer who should have an open mind. A fellow author may write historic fiction, but I find it difficult to believe she can’t stir herself to read books in another genre. But perhaps we’re all a bit like that.
I don’t think the challenges you describe for traditionally published authors is limited to the UK. Seems we’re all in the same boat in many ways when it comes to promotion. Interesting point about writers not reading out of their genre. Self-publishing my own novels and getting a Kindle have been my doorway to reading so many other genres than I ever had before. The price of most e-books makes taking a chance on a new type of reading experience more than doable. And I know this reading expansion is making me a better writer. Thanks, as always, for comments that make me think.