The Cogsmith’s Daughter Book Launch Blog Tour Recap

Here’s a listing of all the posts from the blog tour. Thank you again to all of my wonderful hosts. Make sure you check out their websites if you haven’t already – they are full of great insights, wit, and of course, fantastic writing of their own!

Monday, October 12 | What the Heck is Steampunk Dystopian, Anyway?

In this post, hosted by the wonderful Kate Evans, I explain the basics of both the steampunk and dystopian genres, as well as what attracted me to a “steampunk dystopian” mash up.

Tuesday, October 13 | The Evolution of The Cogsmith’s Daughter: From First Draft to Final Product

Here, I’m hosted by Ula, and I share how I went about writing my first draft as well as some “trivia” about how the final book differs from my first draft.

Wednesday, October 14 | Desertera: Conception and Construction

Zach asked me how I came up with the idea for Desertera, my novel’s world, as well as how I went about building it. In this post, all is revealed!

Thursday, October 15 | How I “Became” a Writer (and Stumbled Upon the Idea for My Novel)

Charles wanted to know more about my background as a writer and how I came up with the idea for The Cogsmith’s Daughter. This one goes way back, folks.

Friday, October 16 | Author Hall of Fame Introduction

Chris the Story Reading Ape was kind enough to add me to his Author Hall of Fame. As my introduction, I talk about how my sociology background influences the purpose behind my writing.

Monday, October 19 | New Author Alert

A video interview, hosted by young adult science fiction author, Jonas Lee. Insights into my writing process, future plans, and general shenanigans.

Tuesday, October 20 | Take a Tour of Desertera

Because Helen crafted such an enchanting world in her own fiction, I wanted to take her and her readers on a tour of my world, Desertera – an old steam ship surrounded by villages.

Wednesday, October 21 | What It “Really” Takes to Write and Publish a Novel

I give Amanda the straight truth about writing a novel – both the intangible traits it takes and the hard facts and figures on stages, time, and personal cost.

Thursday, October 22 | The Religion of Desertera

Have you been wondering how the heck a steampunk world ended up in a desert wasteland? I tell all with Teri’s readers – including an excerpt from the novel.

Friday, October 23 | The Pros and Cons of Using Invented Words in Your Book Title

What exactly is a cogsmith? In this post on Kev’s Great Indie Authors, I explain – and describe the pros and cons of slapping such a word on your book cover.

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Don’t forget! The blog tour Goodreads giveaway ends TODAY. Enter HERE for your chance to win one of three signed copies of The Cogsmith’s Daughter!

 

Next Stop: Vlogville

Hello, everyone!

After months of hum-hawing around and fiddling with technology, I’ve finally decided to just go for it and start my vlog. Mainly, I see this vlog functioning in two ways: A) adding variety to my existing blog and B) providing my readers and fellow writers with a more personable side of myself. I don’t plan to strive for YouTube stardom or even run the vlog independently of this author website, but I hope you all enjoy mixing it up with me.

You can subscribe to my YouTube channel here.

Future playlist topics include:

• My Indie Author Journey
• Writing/Book Updates
• Real Life Kate
• Write/Pub/Life Hacks
• Passions and Pet Peeves
• Pick-Me-Ups and Pep Talks

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Feel free to share tips and/or links to your vlogs below. To my regular readers: if there are any questions you’d like me to answer or topics you want me to cover, share them, too!

Building Your Author Platform: 8 Essential Elements for Your Author Website

So, you’ve set up your author website. Now what in the world do you put on it? First and foremost, know that it is your website. Your brand is unique to you, and there is no cookie-cutter model that will fit it perfectly. Only you can determine what features and content should fill your author website.

That being said, there are a few elements that I strongly suggest every author include. I will keep this post relatively simple and expand on some of these features in later posts. This is simply a “what” and brief “why” post — not a “how” tutorial.

1. Author Head Shot

Your readers want to connect with you, and nothing does that quite like seeing your face. Don’t worry — this doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. Simply find or take a photograph of yourself that focuses on your face. It should be clear (high resolution) and cohesive with your brand. For example, romance authors may want to look dressy and sophisticated, while thriller authors may want a more brooding, black and white photo. You can read a more thorough post on this topic here.

2. Author Biography

You can read a detailed post on writing and placing your author biography(ies) here. However, no matter how much research you do, make sure you say something about yourself on your author website. Your biography can be written however you like, but it should definitely include: your publications/writing experience, any relevant education, and/or something personal about yourself.

3. Your Books or Works-In Progress

If you already have published books, fantastic! Make sure to advertise them! Include your book cover, book description, and links to purchase your books everywhere they are available. You never know where your reader may want to buy, and only including “big names” like Amazon could limit your market. Likewise, I strongly suggest allowing your readers to buy directly from your site. You cut out the middleman and keep 100% of the royalties yourself this way.

If you do not have published books yet, don’t worry! At the time of this writing, I don’t either! Instead, share the title of your work-in-progress, its genre, a short description, its production stage, and/or an estimated release date. Informing your readers about what is coming builds anticipation and creates a connection even before your creative product hits the shelves.

4. Email List/Newsletter Sign Up

You should have an email list. Seriously, it is your best marketing tool as an author. For more on why you need an email list, read this post. Make sure to include a link or widget to allow readers to sign up for your newsletter. If they are on your site, they probably want to hear more from you, and reaching them directly will be key to building relationships and generating sales.

5. Social Media Links & Widgets

Social media is a great way to craft an identity for your author brand and get in touch with your readers. There is so much to be said about what social media sites to use and the best way to use them (more to come). However, when you do commit to social media sites, make sure that it is easy for your readers to A) find you on them, B) see what you are doing on them, and C) share your content on them all from your website.

6. Contact Information

At some point, your readers will want to contact you. Maybe they want to tell you how much they love your book, maybe they want to tell you about a typo, maybe they want to offer a guest post on your site. Whatever the reason, make sure they know how to do it. Being accessible will make you likable and probably be a lot of fun for you, too!

7. Testimonials/Reviews

If you offer a service, make sure to have testimonials from previous clients on your author website. After all, knowing you offer editing services and seeing John Doe rave about your editing services create two drastically different impressions in the minds of your readers and potential clients. Likewise, knowing that you have a book on the market and seeing that other readers judged your book “Brilliant!” “Fantastic!” “The best YA book I’ve ever read!” give two incredibly different messages.

8. Content (Preferably lots and a variety)

If your author website never changes, readers will view it twice (the first time and once again to look for updates) and never return. Moreover, if you only ever update when you have a book for sale, readers will feel you are just a salesperson and never check your site. You have to figure out what works for you. Some authors blog, some vlog, some post interviews, some share book reviews, some write stories and poems. Whatever you decide, figure out content that you can put out consistently that is relevant to your reader and cohesive with your brand. As with other topics, more on this in a later post.

Remember, as I wrote at the beginning of this post, ultimately, your author website simply needs to work for you, your brand, and most importantly, your readers. Think carefully about which of these features you would like to include and how you can tailor them to your unique website. And, of course, have fun with it!

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For more on building your author platform, click here.