Friday 31 October 2014

#NewRelease Expat kitchen garden travel memoir by Sarah Jane Butfield

It's time to celebrate my #NewRelease Our Frugal Summer in Charente: An Expat's Kitchen Garden Journal. So let's have some frugal treats, how about some roast chestnuts and homemade courgette wine. 


There are recipes and frugal tips galore in Our Frugal Summer in Charente: An Expat's Kitchen Garden Journal. 
Amazon Book Link http://bit.ly/OFSCSJB





Early feedback:

"I've read the opening sample on Amazon and it looks absolutely wonderful! If ever I get to live my dream of moving to France, I'll be taking a copy with me, you can be sure of that." Margaret 




"Sarah Jane, this is simply delightful!" Mark 


There are 31 recipes for both food and wine, included in a month by month account, with photographs, of how we transformed a neglected garden into a valuable vegetable garden. http://bit.ly/AuthorpageSJB                                                                        https://www.facebook.com/OurFrugalSummerinCharente                      Thanks for reading, have a great day, Sarah Jane

Friday 24 October 2014

#Authors - Do you want to gain from tweeting book links?




Good morning tweeters!

Some of you may know me from Twitter @SarahJanewrites and the chances are we are followers of each other, if not then we should be!!


Twitter is all about numbers. The number of people who follow you (followers;) the number of people you follow (following;) the number of retweets (RT's) and the number of favourites, videos and photo's you have. It's a numbers game. Therefore, when it comes to book promotion on Twitter there is more than one way to approach it. By the same token, who is to say which is the best or the most productive way, because as we know everyone and everything is different. What works for one book may not work for another. That said one thing is universal, posting your book links on Twitter is an essential part of your marketing tool kit.


It is also a fact that some people do not feel comfortable with self promotion, and therefore it can be difficult to continually disguise your 'buy my book' or 'share my book' tweets. That's where the concept of authors helping authors can really help. Groups utilising this include: Tom Winton's Facebook Group #TWFBG , Rukia Publishing Book Promotion  page #RPBP , We Love Memoirs group  #WLM and The Booktrap Facebook and Twitter group @The_Booktrap.

Let's look at this simple example: would you prefer to buy from a product producer who said "this product is the best on the market," or would you buy from someone who said, "I bought this product and it was really great and I would recommend it to you." I know which I prefer!

Let's look at that in terms of Twitter:


Frank has a new release and he tweets: 


OUT NOW! "Off the Beaten Track: My Crazy Year in Asia." Pls RT!

 Rukia Publishing makes a tweet and the Rukia team of 6 other Twitter accounts RT this.

NEW RELEASE NEWS!!!! Frank Kusy has released Off The Beaten Track get...

Promotion by others often yields more power than self promotion and it's easier to achieve.



How do you tweet yours?
There are several ways to tweet your book, it really depends on what you hope to achieve. 

1. The title of the book, the link and at least two hashtags to increase chance of RT's
2. A quote from a review, the link, and hashtags
3. A picture, a link and a quote from the rankings on an aggregator
4. A link to your website, Facebook page etc., a picture and hashtags

The combinations are endless, and they need to be as some authors post between 5-60 tweets a day!
Some things are clear when you examine the number of retweets:
Adding a picture can increase RT's
Third party recommendations work better than self promotion
Belonging to and using the hashtag of a support group really works
Making sure you have a pinned post for new followers to tweet when they first visit your profile.

Considerations:
Are you trying to direct people to the sales site or aggregator? If so you need to tempt them.

Are you trying to raise awareness or promote your author platform? If so it needs to be well represented in terms of the author photograph, bio and book blurb.

Do you want to encourage everyone to celebrate a success with you? If so a screenshot of the result etc., is essential.

Whatever the reason/objective for the tweet, what you actually want is for people to: 
1. Retweet you to expose the tweets to a larger potential audience who may buy, like or share.
2. Click the link to your book, author page, etc.

What's the best way to gain exposure by using Twitter?
The answer is easier than you think, and it's concept that many Facebook groups and author support groups including #TWFBG TomWinton's Facebook Group, #RPBP Rukia Publishing Book Promotion and @The_Booktrap are already utilising. By adding a hashtag from a group that you belong to and taking part in reciprocal sharing means that while you share other peoples book links they are sharing yours. This means your audience is extended. When you add into this equation using a buddy systems of tagging people who you would like to RT you then the opportunities are endless. 

For more on how you can access greater Twitter exposure be sure to follow @RukiaPublishing and watch for upcoming blog posts with hints, tips and strategies on how to make good use of your Twitter time. Visit www.rukiapublishing.com for more ideas on FREE ways to promote, or have your book promoted for you.

If you found this blog post useful or interesting, please share it and be sure to take a look at the Facebook and Twitter groups that may suit your book/genre.

Have a great weekend and keep tweeting :)

Sarah Jane

Wednesday 15 October 2014

The Booktrap celebrates - come and join the party!! #readers #authors @The_Booktrap

As some of you may know I am a member of The Booktrap :)




What is The Booktrap?
Authors from all over the world have come together with the sole purpose to offer you a convenient and entertaining reading experience.  As our name suggests, we intend to entrap you and keep you coming back for more.  Visit our blogs to see our talented and funny DB and Jes, battling it out over which side of the ocean is the best, meet our sweet Paula with her little secrets on writing, read about History, Literature and Theatre at Anthony and Catherine's blog and last but not least, make sure you stop by the 'Mad Writesman' blog; he might drive you crazy, but he will surely entertain you.  Don’t forget to read our interviews and of course, take a look at the Book Directory where all of our books are showcased by genre.  Buy our books and come back to read the authors’ personal pages.

The Booktrap is celebrating its first milestone of reaching 100 books on its website. Join the party as you will have the chance to meet the authors and win lots of free books. HAVE FUN WITH US!

https://www.facebook.com/events/274308066111570/

Find the BOOKTRAP at the following locations:

Website: http://thebooktrap.weebly.com/

FB page: https://www.facebook.com/thebooktrap?fref=ts

Twitter: https://twitter.com/The_Booktrap

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/130261-the-booktrap

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/the-booktrap


Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/booktrap/

Monday 13 October 2014

Author Sarah Jane Butfield: #Authors do you have a fear of BAD #BookReviews ?

Author Sarah Jane Butfield: #Authors do you have a fear of BAD #BookReviews ?: This blog post arrived in my inbox today and as I read it I realised it was something that needed sharing. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you Dy...

#Authors do you have a fear of BAD #BookReviews ?

This blog post arrived in my inbox today and as I read it I realised it was something that needed sharing. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you Dylan for allowing me to share this great post :)

Originally posted on Suffolk Scribblings: by Dylan Hearn
FEAR OF THE BAD REVIEW
The biggest fear of any author is that people will hate their work. All authors suffer with this anxiety to a greater or lesser extent; whether they have a history of success or are just starting out; whether they are traditionally published or self-published. In fact, the fear is greater for a self-published author because they don’t necessarily have the sense of validation that winning and agent and a publishing contract provides (not that this is any salve for anxious traditionally published authors). To publish you need to overcome this fear but sadly, for many, they never do. You need to be a special kind of masochist to become a writer.
I’ve spoken in previous posts about how you cannot write something that everybody likes. It’s impossible. Why? Because the things that makes a book interesting and engaging are different for different people. Some people love flowery prose, others detest it. Some like their action loud, with explosions; others prefer the explosions to remain on the inside. The best, most revered books receive one-star reviews, as this wonderful post by Heather Hill explains, so at some point in your career you should expect to receive a bad review (or two).
Don't forget to comment and share using the social media icons on Dylan's blog.
Have a great day,
Sarah Jane

Saturday 11 October 2014

New and improved, just what the readers asked for!!!






NEWS FLASH!!!!!!!!
Featuring an enhanced edit, new book cover and the addition of 47 photographs from our Australian Adventures this new edition is proving very popular. 

Readers of the new edition are saying:
"Loved the descriptions of the places they lived, but to see the photo's was amazing!"

"I must visit Australia. I never realised how beautiful the desert could be."

Glass Half Full: Our Australian Adventure http://bit.ly/GHF2nd 

Meet my family and put faces to the characters that make up our story. Enjoy the stunning Australian Outback as we live, take road trips and experience a new life Downunder.

Kings Canyon, NT

Rainbow Valley, NT

Subscribers to the Travel Memoir News newsletter will be able to access to bonus photographs and news in the coming weeks!
http://eepurl.com/0IuML


This has been such an exciting project and there are a few more surprises on the way over the coming months for readers - so watch this space.
Have a a great weekend everyone,

Sarah Jane

For more on my books visit:
http://sarahjanebutfield.wix.com/sarahjanebutfield
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sarah-Jane-Butfield/e/B00GPLZW2Y/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1