3 4 5 S.R. Johannes

Thursday, July 12, 2012

The interest of Pinterest in Marketing

Ah my new love!

I love Pinterest ! If you are on, come connect with me! I love learning about people from their boards! 

It's so fun, I'm also doing a pinning contest for those pinners who pin both Untraceable and Uncontrollable covers on their boards. :)

I also just created a Nature of Grace board with all my images of Mo and Wyn and things in the book. You can follow that board individually. Let me know what you think or send me some images you think should be there!

Pinterest is fun (wait did I say that already?) It's a huge bulletin board and gets rid of those pesky bookmarks on my browser that I hated so much.

Pinterest - what is it?

Pinterest is the newest social networking site. It is more visual and image based that Twitter or Facebook used by primarily women at this point. 

It encourages you to find and pin everything dang cute things to your boards. It is kind of a modern way to bookmark stuff you love or find interesting. On Pinterest I am the best dresser, the best cook, and the wisest person! 

Repinning, following, and organizing is fun and easy. There's that word fun again. 

Besides being....fun...you can use it to build a platform.

Benefits of using Pinterest

·      Find people who like the same things as you.
·      Gives insights into people’s personal likes and dislikes.
·      Creates easy bookmarks to things you love.
·      Helps you find out what is trending and what is popular.
·      It’s fun.

Tips for using Pinterest

·      Always embed links so people can go  to whatever you are pinning.
·      Be sure to pin your own original stuff as well as repin others.
·      Download the pin icon to make it easy to pin wherever you are.
·      Create boards and use interesting titles to attract attention.
·      Create a book board for yourself.
·      Tag friends in posts to create community.
·      Use keywords in descriptions and hashtags.
·      Make sure you know what you are repinning.
·      Make sure you have descriptions.
·      Try to space out pins so you don’t bombard the boards with one topic.
·      Use likes as placeholders so you can find something again.
·    You can follow people or individual boards. This helps you target  who and what you want to watch.
·      Don’t forget to categorize your boards.
·      You have 500 characters in each description box. Use them.
·      Highlight text before pinning to add to description box.
·      Link Pinterest to other accounts.
·      Pin coupons for your book.
·      Create group boards with multiple contributors.
·      Watch for copyright issues.

Pinterest pet peeves

·      Populating description with the actual post. Create summaries.
·      Forget to include links or descriptions.
·      Not grouping into boards.
·      Pinning everything.

sign up here

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

OTBS PW Review! (And The Marketing Benefits of Reviews)


This was a pleasant surprise this morning from Publisher's Weekly :)

"Johannes kicks off the Starling series with this fresh novel about an angel’s peripatetic path to earning her wings...A humorous addition to the angel story genre. "

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On the Bright Side
S.R. Johannes

Coleman & Stott (www.colemanandstott.com), $8.99 trade paper (256p) ISBN 978-0-9847991-3-8
Johannes (Untraceable) kicks off the Starlings series with this fresh novel about an angel’s peripatetic path to earning her wings. Though the backstory is sad—14-year-old Gabby is killed by a drunk driver—humor prevails as Gabby grapples with the task assigned her in heaven: acting as guardian angel to Angela, who is dating Gabby’s former best friend and secret crush, Michael. Several chapters are named for the rules that Gabby, as a “Bright in Training,” breaks repeatedly and comically as she humiliates Angela in hopes of sabotaging her relationship with Michael. Along the way, Gabby risks banishment from heaven to return to Earth and set things right with Michael and Angela, and has a charged encounter with the devil and his henchmen. Gabby’s repartee with her celestial best friend and fellow BIT, Jessica, as well as with her cranky mentor, is studded with puns: at the angel induction ceremony, Gabby tells a “paparazzi dude” that she’s wearing Dolce & Nirvana, while her friend brags about her Vera Wing dress. A humorous addition to the angel story genre. Ages 12–up.

In PW's Select program, you can purchase a spot to be listed in the PW catalog. It is a supplement bound into the issue that is distributed to many publishing and book industry professionals. PW selects a few of the books (about 20%) from each issue to actually review and OTBS got chosen!

Some may ask why these reviews are important. From a marketing standpoint - they can be critical.

In addition to rewarding and validating, reviews can help any author - especially if you are indie. It adds credibility in the hopes of helping to overcome the stigma of indie pubbing.

Some benefits:

Adds credibility
They can entice readers
Highlights a book that normally might go unseen
Boosts author's confidence (which we all need :)

Submitting for book reviews:

Hone in on the right ones for you
Make sure you read guidelines
Be professional in your submission
Do it in advance
Many small sites offer review. Don't be a reviewer snob.

What do you think about reviews? Do they help or hurt? Do they influence readers?

Monday, July 09, 2012

Cover Contest Time!

Summer is just heating up and before you know it Uncontrollable will be out to the hands of readers everywhere!

In anticipation for the release of Uncontrollable on Sept 24th , I am throwing a contest!




"Make your own Cover" Contest


Rules:
  • Join Pinterest (if you haven't already
  • Create a Nature of Grace board
  • Pin both covers
  • Create your own cover for either book
  • You must fill out the rafflecopter below
  • If users have trouble entering by rafflecopter email kate@srjohannes.com with the appropriate  links
  • Contest ends July 27th, 2012
  • Winners will be announced on the July 31st, 2012 (there must be at least 5 entered to win package)
"Make your own cover" Contest Prize: Contestants win a Nature of Grace prize pack! Untraceable, Unspeakable, Uncontrollable, and book swag. Winner will be promoted on social media outlets. (outside US will receive ebooks)


a Rafflecopter giveaway


What are you waiting for? Start pinning!



Friday, July 06, 2012

Uncontrollable Cover Reveal!

Uncontrollable (Book 2 in The Nature of Grace series) is set for release on Sept 24th. 

To be honest, I wish it could have been sooner but I really can't seem to get books out as fast as others. I guess I personally need to take more time and sit with my stuff before feeling comfortable in releasing it. :)


  • Here is a teaser of the first chapter if you missed it.
  • Here is where you can add Uncontrollable to your Goodreads. (so you don't forget me)
  • Here is where you can sign up for blog tour or interview if you havent already.
Be sure to come back Monday for a Cover Contest that runs through July with tons of prizes! :)

Now for the summary for Uncontrollable:

As Grace recovers from tragedy, her science class is chosen by Agent Sweeney at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to help with research on the new "Red Wolf Reintroduction Program". 

While she’s excited about helping with the conservation of the endangered wolves, Grace knows this means being outdoors in the worst winter recorded, in a place she no longer feels comfortable. It also means working closely with Wyn (her ex) and his annoying girlfriend (Skyler), a girl whose idea of getting close to nature is picking silk plants and growing fake plants. 

After a couple of wolves show up dead, Grace almost quits. However, when a fellow project team member goes missing, Grace continues the assignment under a renewed suspicion that someone might be sabotaging the conservation program. She quietly begins to hunt for clues. 

Little does she know, she is being hunted too. 

And possibly, by more than one person.

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PRAISES FOR UNTRACEABLE

"Grace is a spunky, independent, nature girl who doesn't need a boy to save her. With wilderness survival, a juicy love triangle, and more twists and turns than a roller coaster, this fast-paced novel had me holding my breath until the very last page—and still begging for more!" -Kimberly Derting, author of the The Body Finder series (Harper Teen) and The Pledge series (S&S)

"This thrilling story is a dramatic entanglement of mystery, deception and teen romance. The action flows like a brisk mountain stream interspersed with rapids, holding suspense to last page." - Kirkus Reviews

"Johannes has done a marvelous job of creating a suspense-filled mystery with surprises that keep you guessing all the way to the end. Untraceable is a thoroughly engrossing and riveting page-turner."- IndieReader

2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Quarterfinalist (under the original title of Grace Under Fire) - Judges Reviews:

"This story starts out with a bang...it reads like the young woman were narrating it to a friend, and had the ring of a young person's style and intensity. Grace sees authority people, or at least those she knows, as a bit bumbling, which is true to age. Authentic representation of youth in action also. Original in premise and style, and good use of background...Good story!" - Sue Grafton, author of bestselling Kinsey Milhone series

"This murder mystery features a teenaged heroine, but she has the self assurance of a woman twice her age. The prose is very descriptive...and the dialogue is genuine. The setting of small town North Carolina and the surrounding woods is appealing. The story moves along at a brisk clip, and it feels as if we already have some important clues. We look forward to seeing what's in the case file and what Grace and her motorbike, Luci, will be up to next." - Sue Monk Kidd, author of Secret Life of Bees

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Now for the cover :) ....