This week, I’m hosting author, Jeanne Meeks.
About the Author
I got hooked on writing when my fourth-grade essay, The Meaning of Courtesy, won a contest. I loved the honor and attention, though the trip to the principal’s office to receive the prize scared me to death. My college essays sometimes resurface and still give me a thrill. Later, while I worked full-time in our family business, I satisfied my craving to write with the most finely crafted business letters you’d ever find.
On the side, I wrote poetry, but vowed to one day to write a book. Ten-chapters of a non-fiction, how-to-survive-the-family-business book now sit in a box somewhere. Once we sold the business, I had the time to write, but didn’t.
During a trip to the Grand Canyon in 2007, rumors made their way down the trails that a four-year-old girl had fallen from the rim to her death. The tragedy haunted me. I needed to write something, to speak from my heart, but I could not write that story. Instead, I wrote a fictional mystery adventure, Rim To Rim, set in the canyon and killed off a few bad guys. My sorrow for that little girl and her family is in there––in between the lines.
Now I write everyday. What started off as a lonely pursuit with a pen and a spiral notebook, blossomed like wildflowers. I’m intimately familiar with my laptop computer. I have a website, a Facebook page, and accounts on Goodreads, Linkedin, Pinterest, istock, You-tube, etc. etc. I write lyrics for a band, Eve&Me, and know how to format for Kindle from a Mac. I can hyper-link, photoshop, and tweet. Other authors seek me out to critique their stories. With two novels in print, several speaking engagements under my belt, and business cards that say, “Author,” I have begun to feel that I am an honest-to-goodness author. Hey, Ma! Look at me now!
Story ideas spin in my head and there is suddenly too little time. My bucket list keeps refilling, and I’m having a wonderful life. To paraphrase Leonardo da Vinci, “People of accomplishment rarely sit back and let things happen to them. They go out and happen to things.” I love that!
Marketing is Da Bomb!
As much as I love writing stories, I think marketing my novels is even more fun.
I hear some of you groaning. Of course, you’d rather be writing your next novel. I understand that. Early on I realized that completing my novel wasn’t enough. No one will beat down my door to read my book. I had to overcome a lifetime of staying under the radar.
Everything you want is on the other side of fear.
– Jack Canfield (the Chicken Soup series)
What I wanted was to have my writing ability validated by people willing to pay to read my books. What I feared was rejection of me and my work, looking foolish, public speaking, and talking about myself….in short….Marketing.
I was a successful entrepreneur in the security surveillance industry for twenty-eight years. Now that my books are published, I understand that I must treat my writing career as I did my business. Plan, budget, organize, delegate, promote, analyze, and … market. I’ve spent several faltering years experimenting, failing, succeeding, and finally concluding that marketing is mandatory, so I may as well make it fun.
Don’t hate marketing. It is part of your grand adventure. Think of new and creative ways to promote your books. Get outside that box. Whether a traditional or indie author, you must embrace marketing to become a successful authorpreneur. Make it da Bomb!
Novels by Jeanne Meeks:
Rim To Rim – Death in the Grand Canyon
Will a hike across the Grand Canyon build a novice backpacker’s confidence or leave her physically and emotionally beaten and clinging to a ledge by her fingernails?
“A glorious read.” – Jacksonville, FL, reader
“A Dandy Chick Lit Work: Empowering Women, Dispensing Adventure,
Ladies take note: Jeanne Meeks has created a first novel that puts her up in the company of fine adventure/mystery writers, especially those for whom the novel seems intended – women standing on the brink of decision about taking control of their lives.” -Grady Harp, LA reviewer.
✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿
Wolf Pack-Mystery on Isle Royale
Can a backpacking trip to an island famous for its wolves mend the relationship between Amy and her grown daughter? Will blackmail and betrayal bring them together––or bury them on Isle Royale?
Emboldened by her adventures in the Grand Canyon, Amy Warren again laces up her hiking boots. She ferries with her daughter, Meagan, to Isle Royal National Park. When volunteer ranger Sarah Rochon is accused by a co-worker of assault and theft, Amy is torn between spending precious time with Meagan and clearing her best friend’s name. When Amy rescues Remington, a pampered Havanese show dog, from the frigid waters of Lake Superior, he becomes her champion. Together they sniff out clues to the evil that threatens the natural tranquility of the magical island.
Both novels are available in e-book format and in paperback on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Centuries and Sleuths, and other retail outlets.
Hi Patricia and Marja,
You can learn all this marketing stuff just like I did. Try Linkedin.com’s group Books and Writers, and join the discussion “How did your best book signing go and what would you do differently” (or something like that). Try Adventures in Marketing (google that). There are so many people who have already done it all and are willing to pass along good advice. My blog at http://www.jeannemeeks.com has a number of entries in the archives devoted to marketing. If you have any specific questions, leave a comment on my blog and I’d be glad to pass on any “wisdom” I’ve stumbled upon.
Excellent post and it sounds like a great book. And I wish I had half of your marketing skills. : )
Jeanne,
I hope – after reading this post – that your enthusiasm for Marketing rubs off on me. As a mystery author published by a small press, I realize how important self-promoting is but “tooting my own horn” still feels uncomfortable to me at times.