Happy 10th Anniversary to Goddess Fish Promotions - Giveaway

Welcome to the Goddess Fish Promotions Tenth Anniversary Month Long Celebration!


Who is Goddess Fish Promotions? And what do we do? We're glad you asked!

We didn't want your visit here to be dry and boring, so we decided to have a poetry competition and put what we do into verse. Here are the initial entries:

Marianne:

Roses are Red.

Violets are Blue.

I'm awful at poetry.

Coffee.

Judy:

We can edit your book

find things you didn't see

It will be fun to look

at the changes from me.

Yeah, for some reason, Judy won!


Even better, her poem is correct. We DO offer editing as one of our options. Here are a couple of testimonials from clients:

I worked with Marianne on a complete edit and was very happy with the results. Her feedback was clear, easy to follow, and she probed on things I hadn’t thought of. She was also responsive whenever I had questions and helped me work through a few issues. Her feedback and guidance improved the quality of my manuscript, all at a very fair price. I’m working on my next book and plan to use their services again.

-J B Glazer, author, In Search of Mr. Anonymous

*

Choosing the right editor for a project is incredibly important to an author. Let’s face it, we want the best for our books. When I was considering editors for my first indie-published book, Regenerate, I naturally thought of Goddess Fish Promotions–and I’m so glad I did.

Marianne Arkins and Judy Thomas are incredibly attentive and professional during the entire editing process. Their input was invaluable and the story is much stronger because they cared enough to help unsnarl plot points and find order in the chaos.

I can’t wait to work with them again. Truly, a top-notch editorial team! – Sarita Leone, award-winning author of Regenerate

We also offer Virtual Book Tours, Graphic Design, Social Media Promotion and more. You can see more testimonials here.

We hope you enjoyed getting to know us a little (more information is below) and we'd like to do the same. We'd LOVE to see a little poem that tells us a bit about you in the comments. We'll be awarding random book giveaways and $5 Amazon GCs to some of the best poetry we find. It might not be at every stop, but when something really makes us smile, we'll reward it! Come on, be daring...

And now, more about us:

About Goddess Fish Promotions

Goddess Fish Promotions was established October 14, 2008. Why? Well, when Marianne became a published author and got her the first taste of trying to promote a book on a budget, there was only one other virtual book tour company in place at the time, and their fees were simply too high for a small press author. After coordinating and running her own tour, she knew other authors could use the same service for a reasonable price. Thus, Goddess Fish Promotions was born.

Because both Judy and Marianne were authors and editors prior to running Goddess Fish Promotions, they approach the business with a unique point of view, and treat their clients how they would expect to be treated.

The people behind the fish

Judy Thomas -- The Goddess

Judy has a college degree in English and she’s worked in retail, education, at her local library as well as an editor for a small press and for the now defunct ShadowKeep Ezine. She’s also a published author so can see things from both sides of the fence. In 2013, she “retired” and now spends her days helping authors make their dream come true—as well as working as much as she can with her local theater group.

Marianne Arkins - Fish

Grammar freak and coffee lover, Marianne wrote her first novel at ten years old, built her first commercial website in 2000, and published for the first time in 2006. She worked as a professional editor for just over a year, and knows what it’s like to write, edit and promote a book on a budget.

One of our interviews during the tour explains our nicknames ... keep visiting daily to find out!



http://www.goddessfish.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoddessFishPromotions

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoddessFish

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariannejudy/

Google+: https://plus.google.com/+Goddessfish

Now, the goodies ... want to win stuff? Here are the rafflecopters:



Readers:
a Rafflecopter giveaway


Authors:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

10 Things You Need to Know About Virtual Book Tours by Dorothy Thompson, Founder of Pump Up Your Book

10 Things You Need to Know About Virtual Book Tours

By Dorothy Thompson, CEO & Founder of

 Pump Up Your Book

By now, most authors know what virtual book tours are or at least have heard of them.  They’re that wonderful marketing tool that should be a must have in every new book’s campaign.  With each new book I write, I’m making a game plan before the book is even published, and a virtual book tour is the first promotional venue on that list.

While most of us know what they are, there are still a few authors who might have heard of them but have no idea what they involve.  I give you my top 10 things you need to know about virtual book tours so you know what to expect.

1. Virtual book tours are the BEST way to get the MOST online exposure for your book. Not only are you presenting your book--and yourself--to thousands of people, all of your interviews, guest posts and reviews are archived, which means months down the road you’re still selling your book because of that one tour.
2. Virtual book tours ARE a lot of work. Not only are you searching for the perfect blogs to host you, you are acting as the middle man between you and the blogger unless you are using a paid service, such as Pump Up Your Book, who will do all that work for you.  Even if you do sign up with Pump Up Your Book, there is still work to do--filling out interviews and writing guest posts (unless you choose an all review tour).  Even though it requires a little bit of your time to fill out interviews and write guest posts, it’s well worth it.
3. You will learn more about your book than you ever did. I had an author tell me that through the interviews and guest posts she had to complete she learned so much about her book, which caught her off guard.  Now, when she is interviewed on radio shows and makes television appearances she is better prepared.
4. Virtual book tours will build up your author platform.  No matter if you’re a fiction author or a nonfiction author, virtual book tours will build up your author platform using your key search words.
5. Your reviews are guaranteed. Offline publicists, while they mean well, do it all wrong.  They query a book blogger, make arrangements to send the book, then that’s where it stops.  The review is not a guaranteed thing.  The reviewer can post the review anytime they see fit.  With virtual book tours, your review is guaranteed on a certain date unless the reviewer jumps ship, which rarely happens.  I had an author tell me she signed up with an offline publicist who sent out tons of books, but only one or two reviewers actually came through for them.  That was money lost for the author.  Books don’t come cheap these days, so scheduling a date the reviewer can agree upon guarantees that review will happen.
6. Many reviewers now take eBooks, which save you money. Thank goodness someone was smart enough to invent a device that automatically loads a book in a few seconds (no waiting to go to the book store anymore, my friend) and makes it fun to read.  When Amazon lowered their price of the Kindle, sales soared and book lovers started talking about getting one.  It opened up a wonderful way to get these books to the book reviewers quickly and less expensively.  Have you noticed how much books are and how much it takes to ship them?  Not saying all reviewers will take eBooks, but as time goes on, most will have an e-reader and might prefer an eBook.
7. More website hits, more blog hits, more Twitter hits and more Facebook Fan Page hits. All authors should have a website or blog and accounts at Twitter and Facebook.  No matter if you think they’re all a waste of time.  A virtual book tour will definitely give you more hits at all places--as long as your links are in your bio.
8. Going on a virtual book tour raises your Alexa rankings. What is Alexa?  Alexa measures how well you are doing in the search engines.  When you go on a virtual book tour, your website and blog links are included in every bio (or should be!) whether it be an interview or guest post.  Those are incoming links that Alexa uses to measure your ranking.  The more your website or blog link shows up on other sites, the more valuable your site is to them, and thus, your rankings soar.
9. You will learn how to sell your book through media exposure. Not all authors take advantage of their interviews and guest posts by gearing them toward their audience, thus luring them to their book and/or website/blog.  I’ve had many authors on tour. The ones who really take the time to make their interviews and guest posts effective selling tools are the ones who profit the most.  The key thing here is to make your audience curious.  One liners, in the case of interviews, may not cut it.  Of course, there are only so many ways you can answer “What’s your book about?” but take your time and get your audience’s curiosity piqued so that they make their way over to your website or your book’s buying link.
10. Virtual book tours teach you how to connect well with others. There is no better way to learn how to network.  All these wonderful book bloggers who agree to host you are your new friends in your extended network, and they will be there for you the next time you have a book to promote (unless they completely panned it of course).  You’ll also learn how to use the social networks effectively as you study how to get people over to your tour stops with persuasive wording.  Remember to talk to your audience, not at them.

There you have it.  Ten things you need to know about virtual book tours in a nutshell.  If you have a tour coordinator as opposed to setting one up yourself, she will walk you through it so that your tour will be a fun experience for all.  Your book will thank you for it.

Dorothy Thompson is CEO/Founder of Pump Up Your Book, an award-winning public relations company specializing in online book publicity.  You can visit her website at www.PumpUpYourBook.com or follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pumpupyourbook and Facebook at www.facebook.com/pumpupyourbook.

Musing Mondays - April 28

This is a weekly meme run by Miz B of Should be Reading.

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it!
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

My Musing:

Do you ever wonder sometimes if there are simply too many virtual book tour (VBT) companies out there? It seems a new one crops up every week. I know I certainly receive more than my fair share of requests from VBT companies.

When I first started blogging, there weren't that many companies. I remember almost begging publishers to review books at my blog. Then blogging and online book promotion exploded. My TBR pile also exploded. As an author, I know how tough it is to get exposure for your book; so I hate to say no to someone asking me to promote a book on my blog.

But where does it end? I'm looking at the hundreds of books in my office and I know I can't keep up. There's no way I'll be able to review all these books and still have a life. And yet, I love buying new books and reading new books despite my enormous pile. This was supposed to be my year to catch up, but I look at my schedule for May and June, and I see I've taken on eight new titles. What the heck am I thinking?

How about you? Do you love the requests from virtual book tour companies? Or does it make you sick to your stomach every time a new request appears in your inbox? How do you stay on top of your TBR pile?

The Business of Writing: Writers as Virtual Book Tour Consumers

A friend forwarded a link to this blog post from June 20th about virtual book tours. Romance author Michele Gorman asked the question, "Are Blog Tour Coordinators Writer Advocates or Exploiters?" In the article, Gorman explains she sent a request to several historical fiction blogs looking for a review of one of her books. She received a response not from one of the bloggers she contacted, but from a virtual book tour (VBT) coordinator who also happens to review books for one of the blogs she emailed. This VBT coordinator then proceeded to outline her services. This led Gorman to wonder how many VBT coordinators use their book blogs as a front for their businesses.

Gorman has a valid point. She requested a review and the person not only didn't have time to review her book, but tried to sell her something. She didn't know the person she was contacting also coordinated virtual book tours. That said, are coordinators truly out to exploit authors?

Gorman's first concern is that many new writers may think they have to pay to get their books noticed. She feels because VBTs have become so popular and new coordinators are popping up all the time, inexperienced writers might assume paying for a VBT is the norm. I don't agree.

Type "coordinating a virtual book tour" into Google and the first four results are about coordinating your own VBT--three of them happen to be a workshop I gave at this year's PROMO DAY and two articles I wrote, but the information is there. Type in "coordinating your own virtual book tour" and you'll come up with a bunch of results too. There's really no reason any author should think they must pay someone to coordinate a virtual book tour.

Gorman also asks if your book is getting on the right blogs. My philosophy might be different from some others, but it's based upon years of experience blogging and promoting books. While I feel it's definitely important to be featured on blogs in your genre, there is something to be said for being featured at a book blog that covers multiple genres. Readers have their own tastes. I read primarily mysteries, Christian fiction, nonfiction, true crime, and poetry at this blog. You don't always know, however,  how a book will touch you until you've read it. I once read a narrative about a man who survived an airplane disaster. I don't like airplane disaster stories (I'm afraid of flying), but because this book was authored by the man's son, I felt it would have a more human element, than other stories in that genre. It's one of my favorite books. If the author had never queried me about it just because I didn't read much in his genre, he would have missed out on a five-star review and I wouldn't still be talking about his book years after I read it.

Yes, it's important to be featured on a blog that has a healthy following, but there is no indication that an author's direct email to a well-trafficked blog will be more successful than one from a VBT company. Most bloggers are dedicated to the VBT companies they work with. A relationship is already in place. The more time I spent coordinating virtual book tours, the larger my database of dedicated bloggers grew. That's an advantage over an author going it alone. Once an author has coordinated her own VBT, however, it should be easier to do the next time.

The last two questions Gorman posed perplexed me. "How do they handle bad reviews? Is there any promise, implied or overt, that a blogger will be favourably disposed toward your book?"

I'm hoping the answer to the last question is no, because if not, I wouldn't want to do business with that company. There is no way any form of marketing can guarantee a favorable review. To do so would be highly unethical.

As for the question about what a VBT company does about a bad review, I can only share how I've handled them. If a client's book received a less than favorable review, I would email her and ask if she wanted me to promote it using our regular methods. Sometimes the answer is yes and other times it is no. I'm not certain why VBT companies would be held responsible for a bad review. If you work with a publicist or even contact bloggers on your own, there is no control over bad reviews. Reading remains subjective and being able to accept all kinds of reviews is part of being an author. Even though I had many contacts by the time Little Shepherd came out, I still had to accept reviews that were less than 100% positive. Just because an author pays to promote her book doesn't mean she should expect more favorable reviews.

I've always seen VBT companies as similar to that of any contractor. My husband and I hired a lawn service last year. Could we buy the chemicals and spend some weekends tending to the lawn? Sure. We did it for years. We opted to pay a lawn care service so that we could spend that time relaxing and enjoying our kids. Some authors want to learn how to coordinate a virtual book tour. Others prefer to use that time in another way, so they hire VBT companies.

We must never forget that while writing is a creative business, it's still a business. Writers are consumers. They need to consider all their options and choose what works best for them. You don't stop calling a plumber when you need one just because of a bad experience. You find a new plumber. It's unfortunate that one bad experience tainted how this author sees all virtual book tour coordinators. Hopefully that will change. There are many wonderful people in the business who work hard for their clients and got into online book promotion because of their love of books.

What do you think about virtual book tours? If you are an author, have you coordinated one or hired a company to put one together for you? What was your experience like? If you're a reader and blogger, do you host authors on virtual book tour? What have you enjoyed most about hosting authors? What would you like to change about hosting authors?

Pump Up Your Book Announces December ‘10 Authors on Virtual Book Tours

Join a talented and diverse group of 36 authors who are touring with Pump Up Your Book Virtual Book Tours during December 2010.

Follow these authors as they travel the blogosphere from December 6th through December 17th to discuss their books. You’ll find everything from seasonal titles to self-help books, from mystery novels to historicals, from romance novels to humorous pet advice books, and more!

M.M. Bennetts returns this month with his historical novel, Of Honest Fame. Other returning authors include John L. Betcher, Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, K.D. Hays and Meg Weidman, Mary Maddox, and Judi Moreo.

Award-winning author Kathi Macias is touring with the third book in her Extreme Devotion series, Red Ink. Mysteries come to you from Kathryn Casey, Shelly Frome, and Susan Wingate, and children’s picture books are being promoted by V.S. Grenier and Nicole Weaver.

Seasonal titles in a variety of genres come to you from Joel Andre, Kristy Haile, Cheryl C. Malandrinos, and Tim Slover. Nonfiction offerings this month come from Shari Bookstaff, returning authors Denise Burroughs and Nicolas Oliva, Mike O’Mary, Kandy Siahaya, and Stephanie Vlahov.

Other authors on tour include: Monica Brinkman, the sister writing team of K.M. Daughters, returning authors Rolf Hitzer, Darrell King, Bronwyn Storm, and Vincent Zandri, Nancy Carty Lepri, Shana Mahaffey, Gary Starta, Kimmie Thomas, Tom White, and Amanda Wolfe.

Pamela Samuels Young returns this month to promote two of her legal thrillers: Buying Time and Murder on the Down Low. And for the first time ever, we feature Sparkle the Cat, the world’s foremost feline columnist, who is touring with her cat-to-cat advice book, Dear Sparkle.

Visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eefqHAHmuN8  to view a video trailer introducing our authors on tour in December.

Pump Up Your Book is a virtual book tour agency for authors who want quality service at an affordable price. More information can be found on their website at www.pumpupyourbook.com.

Interview about VBTs at Writers In Residence on Wednesday!

Want to know more about virtual book tours?

Stop by the Writers in Residence blog on Wednesday, August 25th for my interview. We'll be talking about what you can expect from your tour, when you should begin thinking about signing up for a virtual book tour, the advantages of using VBTs to promote your book, and more.

I'll be checking in during the day to answer questions, so feel free to ask away.

You'll find me at the Writers in Residence blog on Wednesday by clicking here!