Believe!: Quickly & Easily Increase Your Amazon Ranking

Believe!: Follow up on promoting ‘Tis the Season - how to ma...: ***Part #2: My Secrets for getting ‘Tis the Season on the first page of Contemporary Romance. On Dec 16th, I shared with you th...

Write it Down & Make it Happen!

I think that when we take our thoughts out of our heads and put them into writing or some other form of self-expression, that we will manifest those desires. I selfishly made my Christmas and 2015 New Year’s wish list about me, but  I think it's always been that way, and so it should be. After all, we have to take care of ourselves before we can address the needs of others.

• May I keep the Spirit of Christmas year round, remembering to give to those in genuine need, be it of my time, money, or prayers.
• May I remember to honor my body through healthy foods and physical exercise.
• May I continually honor my mind with meditation, prayer, and gratitude.
• May I remember that although I don’t have to hang out with toxic people, be them family or former friends, that I can still wish the best for them, as what I send out in thought comes back to me as well.
• May I remember always to keep my thoughts positive, my words peaceful, and my actions filled with love.
• May I hold the hopes and visions of others in their highest good and use my energy to help co-create their dreams, as well as my own.

What Is Your Christmas Wish?

It's Raining Books: The Ambivalent Memoirist by Sandra Hurtes - Guest ...

It's Raining Books: The Ambivalent Memoirist by Sandra Hurtes - Guest ...:

I was floored by the small excerpt Sandra Hurtes shared in her post at "It's Raining Books"--a wonderful display of exceptional writing talent. Sandra Hurtes was given high praise for her memoir by Publisher's Weekly yet her interest doesn't lie in a writing career. In one e-mail I found her to be a highly intelligent, down to earth woman, and refreshingly forthright.

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions . Sandra will be awarding a copy of her book. Go to the link and find out how you can win a copy of this exceptional work.

7 Easy Reminders to Living Your Dreams



Kristen Stokes Photography

Yes, we’ve heard this from successful self-help gurus, but too often we forget the spiritual basics that worked for others in achieving their heart’s desires.

1.  Be grateful for everything. Each morning and every night name at least one thing you’re truly grateful for. The energy of gratitude brings your strongest desires to you.

2.  Clearly define your heartfelt desires. Be very specific. If you want money for a car, envision the make, model, color, and price (even if you want it for free), and all the amenities.

3.  Write a list of what you want to manifest. Imagine and feel the positive emotions of what it is like to already have it. Be a kid and imagine the best scenario possible, regardless of how big your dream it is.

4.  Manifestation happens in its own time, so don’t focus on how or when it comes in, just the result of what you want. Trust that you'll receive what you want at the time that’s right for you, not the time that you think is right.

5.  Affirmations work! Write down what you want as if you already received it. A paper taped on my wall says: “I am a Financially Successful, International Best-selling Author.” It used to be “I am a Published Author,” and that actually happened.

6. Create a collage or storyboard of what you want to help cement the image. If you already made one, go over it and see if it’s still accurate, and if not, update the images.

7.  Make certain that happiness is always an end result of your desires. If you want a new house on the east coast, could you be separated from your family in Oregon? If you want a new motorcycle is there guilt present because a new car would be better for the family? Conflicting feelings prevent the manifestation from becoming reality. Be clear in defining what you want without any emotional price tags like guilt, anger, or bitterness attached.

8.  As children, we have a stronger and more innocent belief that anything is possible. But as adults, we are tested by having our innocence removed and have to regain our trust despite the trials. Be patient as you practice permanently changing a negative mindset to a positive one.

What do you want for yourself?

Anyone who supports your vision can help uphold your dream by sending you positive energy. They can simply imagine an image of you joyfully experiencing what you want.

What would you like others to help you envision?

Promotion Ideas that $ Paid $ Off

Author Carmen DeSousa

It wasn’t just the terrific stories written by Carmen Desousa that intrigued me. Carmen has valuable information on publishing, marketing, and promotion that she actually shares with other authors!
 

For instance, I didn’t see the value of sharing more than an occasional post on Twitter. I mean, does anyone really read all those tweets? Carmen shared her experiences with Twitter and really opened my eyes.
 

Did you know that studies show a person should tweet 4 to 6 times an hour to keep a feed active and of interest to followers? 

First, here are some basics:

• Be careful about what you tweet. Some things might come back to haunt you.

• Be picky about what you retweet. (For this reason Carmen doesn’t use the auto-follower.)

• 
  Don’t share old news, only choose tweets that are interesting.
• Use the 'pinning' feature on Twitter which allows a tweet to be pinned right at the top of your Twitter feed.
• Always follow back someone who tweets that they just downloaded your book. Word of mouth is still the best form of advertisement.  

Here are the most important points Carmen made about Twitter

Before following someone who follows her, Carmen reads their profile and a sampling of their tweets. (She has read every single profile for the last five years of people who followed her!) If she follows them back, and they retweet her somewhere down the line, they are eventually added to a ‘special’ list of names of those that she will retweet (but only if the tweets are interesting.)

Why go through a detailed process like that on Twitter? The answer is also why we need to connect ourselves with authors in similar genres. It's all about marketing and promotion--branding our name! 

Carmen explained it through this terrific story about retweeting:

Carmen met an author on Twitter a few years ago. "Deb" (fake name) wrote what she did, romantic suspense. Carmen started following Deb and retweeted her books. Deb did the same for Carmen. Then Carmen noticed beneath her list of books on Amazon that Deb's books appeared in the ‘readers who bought this, also bought this’ section. The same thing happened for Deb about Carmen's books on her page. Essentially they swapped readers. Each of their fans recognized that they wrote similar books. Deb just happened to be a NYT and USA Today bestselling author. Carmen felt lucky to share Deb's fans, which increased her own sales.

Find out specific details on what led to marketing success for Carmen using other websites and social media when you visit Carmen's website and read her articles.

Order all of Carmen's
books at Amazon.com

Visit Carmen DeSousa's website:
http://www.carmendesousa.com/

 

Articles worth reading by Carmen DeSousa:

http://www.carmendesousa.com/p/popular-posts-on-writingmarketing.html
 

http://www.carmendesousa.com/2013/08/how-to-make-bestseller-amwriting.html

My Love Affair with Ray Bradbury

Photo from Hollowverse.com

We met under a tree on a hot day at the UCLA Book Festival, when I was in my mid-twenties. Ray Bradbury explained he had to get out of the sun. The only place with a shade tree was at the back of the campus, which is how we found each other,  each looking for a cool respite. You'd think he was a diplomatic dignitary the way his two security guards flanked him.

No one knew he was there and for two hours he told me magical stories of his youth and the highlights of his writing career. Do I remember the exact details or words of the conversation? Sadly, not. And worse, I was too naïve to understand just how important he was in the world of literature. I know we established that we both felt spiritual and highly intuitive, thinking that our work was channeled to us for a higher purpose. He said that alone, he just couldn’t be that good. After that, I remember nothing but floating on a cloud and feeling enchanted, prepared to propose to the old man.

I asked him what was the most important thing he could tell me that would make me the best writer ever.

He stared into my eyes with a searing passion as if we were characters in a romance novel. I knew that his message was highly personal, meant just for me. Ray, as he asked me to call him, leaned forward. His eyes burrowed beyond my soul and touched the heart of me. My ears strained––this I would remember. He took a breath and said, “Write.” Angels sung, and I knew that I was on the right life path.

Once the word got out that Ray was available for signatures the line at his table grew in seconds, and it was clear why he had two security guards. I wished he had invited me out to dinner. We bid adieu, and knowing I'd never see him again, tore myself from the table, feeling that I had received all the blessings of the conversation. I reluctantly walked away, unaccompanied by my new love.