Autography - Time to have ebook signings!

You can still enter for free marketing ebook by asking a marketing questions HERE.

Today Tom Waters is here to talk about Autography. He is an author as well as the founder of Autography - an app/site that allows authors to personally sign ebooks for readers.

Hi Tom, tell us about yourself/books!

I'm an author, speaker, and consultant working in the Intelligence Community.  Most of my books have been nonfiction, but a couple of years ago I wrote a mystery/thriller called SECRET SIGNS.  I've recently had a spy novel cleared by CIA review (a requirement as a former employee) and working on a sequel right now.

What is Autography? 

Autography is a digital media firm with a patent pending method for autographing ebooks and other digital media.  We debuted at Book Expo America last year.  We were there again this year supporting eight different authors – from Warren Adler (War of the Roses) to Scaredy Squirrel (yes, a 'real' author).  We sponsored some authors in our booth, others in their publisher's booths, and a few on the big Author Stage.  A really great event this year, especially when fans can get a signed picture of their favorite author as the autograph for their ebook.

What made you start it?

Actually, it was my whining that did it.  An ebook I'd written on the NFL's intelligence operations (game film, scouting reports, etc) had become wildly popular with troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.  The USO invited me to join a tour with a bunch of NCAA football coaches.  I complained to my good friend Robert Barrett (IT executive in the space program) that 'they' could put a man on the moon, but I can't sign my ebook for the troops.  All these coaches would be signing balls, jerseys, and helmets (we took 3 tons of tchotchkes) and I had nothing to sign.  Robert figured out how I could sign copies for the troops with an Apple iPad.  I did 10 days and 20,000 miles across the Middle East.  Incredible trip. 

What benefits do you see for authors using autography?

It gives authors an opportunity to meet with fans anywhere.  I've done ebook signings in Starbucks, hotel bars, festivals, wine tastings – because the system handles all of the transaction responsibilities, the author can just concentrate on interacting with their fans.  We provide the author with all of the information from their signings: date, time, location, and email addresses for everyone they've autographed a book for.  Plus, the fan can export out that signature page to their Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or MySpace page with the touch of a button.  Great marketing for the author/publisher!!

How can an author join?

It's simple.  We need five things from an author:  their epub file, a head shot, book cover image, 2-3 sentence description of the book, and whatever greeting the author wants the fan to see.  The Autography app is available on iTunes and the author needs an Apple iPad to do the signing!!  Once we give you a logon and password, the author is ready to go. 

Provide any more information you would like.

Think about the options available now!  I did an ebook signing in Dublin, Ireland from my home in St Petersburg, Florida via Skype!  I've done ebook signings over Internet radio too.  You can do Ustream, Livecast, or Spreecast events easily and quickly.  Autography support multiple languages and currencies – take your virtual tour global!

For more information, go to their web site

If you would like a signed ebook of Untraceable, let me know at shelli@srjohannes.com and I can send you one. The cost is the same 2.99$ so there's no extra cost to you :)

You can follow Tom and Autography on Pinterest, Twitter, and the web site.

Marketing Your Words!

The "Market Your Words" marketing and book promotion ebook will be released next week.
You can add it on your Goodreads now.

It's no longer enough for writer's to write good books. They must know how to market their words. 

This marketing book is for every writer who doesn't know where to start. It is a compilation of tips, strategies, and key steps from my marketing blog for authors, Market My Words.

It also includes marketing interviews from the industries top publishing editors, literary agents, and bestselling authors such as Jay Asher, Aprilynn Pike, Aimee Friedman, and more.


MYW will be available in ebook first and then paperback - both priced way under 10$.

The ebook will be about 200 pages of tips, strategies, and interviews some from this blog and some new.

The book covers topics like:

• Everything you need to know about marketing
• Learn how to brand yourself and your books
• Create a winning marketing strategy and plan
• Make the most of your social networks and online marketing
• Bestselling book publicity
• Self Publishing marketing tips
• Interviews - authors, editors, agents and other publishing professional.
• Resources

Today I'm taking your marketing questions. 

Comment and you will be entered into drawing for a free ecopy! :)

Guest Post: Writing for Boys

Bam!  Pow!  Screeech! Should there be books written just for boys?  Should there be books written just for girls?  Or should there be books for every young reader, one size fits all?  What are those editors/readers/librarians looking for, really? The debate rages on, with passionate advocates on every side.  Luckily, we writers don’t really have to take a side; all we have to do is to start writing and see who our main characters become as the stories take shape in our heads. 

As we begin the writing process, knowing our audience is invaluable, and that comes through research and experience – oh, the experiences!  In my own case, I spent years teaching in middle schools and high schools, and now, as an author, school visits and readers’ letters help to keep this dinosaur current. My weekly volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club doing “homework help” (translation: “controlled chaos”) is key to get a glimmer of what’s going on in the lives of both boys and girls.  Then, living with the “ultimate guy,” my dear husband, a sports nut and avid reader, also influenced my world view of how “guys (well, one guy anyway) see the world.” 

Sometimes, a specific audience is already targeted, as it was for my contracted reluctant reader series (Cover-to-Cover, Perfection Learning), which is for boys ages 9-14.  Other times, the sense of the audience evolves during the writing process, determined by the main character’s voice, as it did for my most recent middle grade/tween mystery, ISLAND DANGER, which is also for boys, 9-14. 

To focus specifically on writing for boys, I’ve found that reading suspense á la Grisham, Patterson, and DeMille and studying their use of lots of action and hooks in their plots were critical to get me focused.  Additionally, books on language and gender, such as YOU JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND by linguistics professor Deborah Tannen, helped inform my writing. 

Tannen’s theory is that girls primarily use language to “connect,” whereas boys use it to report a fact and to establish dominance.  For boys, she says, the “glue” that binds them together in a group is “activity,” whereas for girls, it’s “talk.” Sure enough, my male main characters grab hold of the plot and establish their own voices quickly, as opposed to my female main characters, who seem to establish themselves with less overt physical action, more dialogue, and at a more subtle pace. 

For example, the fourth through eighth grade boys at my local Boys and Girls Club will read THE HUNGER GAMES, with a female main character, but won’t pick up TWILIGHT, at least not in front of other kids!  They love the suspense and exciting action in the former, they tell me.  The fourth through eighth grade girls will read both books.  Most boys I talk to say they love mysteries, and they seem drawn to overt struggles and strong conflicts between good and evil.  When I write for boys, I keep these theories in mind, so Todd, my main character in ISLAND DANGER, plays a lot of soccer, surfs, and gets into fistfights.  Yet, he definitely has an empathetic side as well, which he uses to assess the other characters, to make his decisions, and take action. 

            There are plenty of examples of books that contravene these theories, and many authors who will disagree, but, as a writer, I find that these ideas help keep me grounded as I write and revise my manuscripts for boys.  With any luck, young readers will pick up one of my books and find an experience that resonates with them, whether they’re boys or girls. 

If you tweet or email Margo the following, you will be added to a drawing for a free book.

For a Tweet to @ipapaverison:  Enter me in #mg ISLAND DANGER ebook giveaway

For an email to ms@margosorenson.com: (subject line) Island Danger ebook Giveaway 

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Island Danger

Tween Mystery Action Adventure

When fourteen-year-old soccer star Todd arrives in Hawaii, he hears that radical, militant Hawaiian activists have hidden weapons in a nearby ravine to use for their rebellion against the U.S. government to gain Hawaiian independence. Even though he’s warned that people are raising marijuana or “pakalolo” in the ravine, guarding their crops with rifles, pit bulls, and explosives, Todd plans to scout the ravine and find the weapons, hoping he can finally earn his family’s respect and find some adventure to offset his boring summer. What will Todd discover in the ravine that could force him to rethink everything he’s believed?

Margo Sorensen's Bio

Author of twenty-seven books, Margo Sorenson was born in Washington, DC, and spent the first seven years of her life in Spain and Italy, living where there were few children her age, so books became her friends. She finished her school years in California, graduating from the University of California at Los Angeles. After teaching high school and middle school and raising a family of two daughters, Margo is now a full-time writer, writing primarily for young people of all ages, toddlers through high schoolers. Margo enjoys writing for young readers since she believes they are ready for new ideas and experiences, and they really enjoy "living" the lives of the characters in books. She enjoys meeting with her readers in school and library settings from Minnesota to California and Hawaii.

Besides winning recognition and awards for her books from various groups, including the American Library Association, Margo was invited to donate and archive her working papers with the internationally-known children's literature collection, the Kerlan Collection, at the University of Minnesota. After having lived in Hawaii, California, and Minnesota, Margo and her husband now live full-time in La Quinta, California. When she isn't writing, she enjoys visiting her grandchildren, playing golf, reading, watching sports, traveling, and hearing from her readers.  

Winners of Hugh Howey ebooks

Congrads to the following for winning the ebook OMNIBUS by Hugh Howey.


Claudette Young

Rebecca Campbell

Ansha Kotyk - (Twitter contest)

please email me at shelli@srjohannes.com with your ereader format !