Wednesday 18 November 2015

Traffic building on Marketing Highway

I've had a good week. Everything is heading in the right direction with the cyber and marketing journeys. My google+ account stands at 4,600 views, my blog at 1,068 and my Instagram and Twitter accounts growing daily! I've had my first royalties notification and given that it was in $ then that is purely Amazon sales and not my own or other sales on Completelynovel.com and I saw today that there are now 7 book retailers on Amazon selling my book.

https://completelynovel.com/books/exactly-23-days 

I continue to get ONLY positive feedback which is so encouraging and this weeks has included: 'I have never read a book so fast, couldn't put it down' to 'I haven't done any bleeding housework this week because of your book, I can't stop reading it' to 'A...MA...ZING'. I have also had a book reviewer message me to say that based upon the blurb on the back of the book they would not be able to review it as it would switch too many PTSD triggers for them in terms of relationship issues and I guess that that fits in with the very first review I had, several months ago which said the first chapter made her tear up as it was very relatable! I like that my words evoke emotions be they tears or laughter and to be repeatedly told that my book is making people both laugh and cry as they read it fills me with pride, pleasure and the continued desire to write! 

The marketing journey continues though and I have continued to email, Tweet and Instagram details of my book to media people, concentrating on women's media based in the UK this week. There are so many magazines out there both paper and digital. It is so easy to get distracted reading, and so 
my focus for the remainder of this week is to develop a firm strategic plan for the marketing in order to avoid the distractions of reading, even if that is 'strategically planning the plan'. I look forward to the research but need to put the breaks on the distractions. I've got a destination to reach!

Word of the day: Strategic. Planned, calculated, deliberate, tactical, prudent, clever, shrewd, well though out. I'm onto it. Promise.




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Tuesday 10 November 2015

A ripple in the pond before a wave in the ocean.

A ripple in the pond before a wave in the ocean. 
In other words you have to learn to walk before you can run! I have taken my first tentative steps at writing, publishing and now the marketing. The launch event for me was always going to be my first major step in the world of marketing and I smashed it, even if I do say so myself. The venue was stunning, creating a wow factor for my guests which was a must on my list. The venue was in a bar called On the 7th in MediaCityUK. The bar is the whole seventh floor of one of the media complex's that houses production companies, TV companies such as the BBC and ITV here in the North West area of the UK and it is part of the Eclectic group of hotels. It was a fantastic choice of venue and I chose an afternoon tea for the food aspect of the event. There was fine crockery, polished silver, white cotton and English roses decorating the enormous table in the centre of the annex room of the main lounge area. My guests were greeted firstly by me and then served with tea or coffee and home made biscuits. When I had done my final head count and knew all guests were present I was announced by the manager in readiness for my speech. I acknowledged three people who were not present who should have been, my mother (who died when I was a child), my son (who was away at uni) and my best friend Julie (who was too unwell to attend) and then I delivered my speech which I had written and edited 4 times in order to perfect it. I presented it with confidence to 60 people and witnessed tears and laughter as well as the round of applause at the end! I certainly didn't expect to move people to tears. I then announced a raffle to raise funds for one of my favourite charities (Gift of a Wedding) which gifts weddings to terminally ill people and the prizes were a frame containing artwork, signed research notes and part of an original email appertaining to the book. The first prize, I kept a secret, which added to the mystery as all my guests were told was that it was relevant to the book! The first prize ticket was drawn and it was announced that the winner would be going for coffee with the 'coffee o'clock' girls, who are characters in the book based upon three of my friends! and that we will be going to one of the venues mentioned in the book! I thought that was a great idea and it was certainly well received by the winner! The food was served on slate platters and ornate cake stands and the candles glistened as dusk fell and darkness finally changed the outside view to reflect electric lights of various forms, catching the ripples of the canal down below. The variety of cakes, intertwined with strawberries and kumquats made a pretty site and a created many a salivating mouth! I mingled with each guest individually and thanked them all as I handed them their gifts bags containing signed copies of my book, bookmarks with a feather image (representing my mother) and luxury chocolate and mini pastries to enjoy as they read their books. I presented certain people who had helped me on my journey with bouquets, individual bookmarks and a special bottle of Whiskey for Mr Ed my editor. The lounge area bustled with conversation, the photo booth created laughter and glasses chinked and bottles popped as bubbles were enjoyed. I had a cake designed by Little Moo cakes and she created a library shelf with my book atop of the creation and a white feather hidden amongst the fondant! There was also a plaque on the cake which said, 'If you cannot see the book you want on the shelf, write it' which of course I did. It was a fabulous fabulous day and I am humbled that so many people chose to pay to attend my event but to have people saying that they could not wait to read the book based upon my speech and people telling me that I had inspired them to write and to arrive home so many text messages and over 50 Facebook messages was overwhelming to say the least. My windowsill flows with congratulatory cards and flowers and I have received wines, champagnes and feather pens too! It has been an adrenaline filled twelve months and I am really looking forward to the marketing phase which although in it's very early stages, I am loving, despite my mistakes! It's all a part of the walking to throw a pebble in the pond before I can run into the ocean and show the waves what I am made of. Thank to everyone along the way and that undoubtedly includes my readers. Thank you for sharing my various forms of social media and please could you do me a favour. Chuck a pebble in the pond for me would you and share this link with another potential reader! https://completelynovel.com/books/exactly-23-days Thank you.  

Word of the day: Success. The accomplishment of an aim or purpose. Without a doubt!











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Wednesday 4 November 2015

The checks before the cheques!

Well the launch date is almost upon us. 

Fabulous venue.... check
Catering requirements....check
Cake....check
Flowers....check
New frock....check
Shoes etc etc etc etc all checked. Final arrangements to be made tomorrow with the venue, speech written, re-written and yes re-written. I am a stickler after all. Gift bags containing signed copies and other goodies all done too. 

I feel nervous, excited, humbled a whole gamut of emotions to be perfectly honest. 58 people have paid to attend my launch event and I feel the pressure to ensure that it all runs smoothly but I have decided that as always I will just be me. I don't want to impress, I just want to deliver. 

Good food, stunning venue, a well prepared speech, spending individual time with my guests and hopefully a well deserved drink afterwards. That sounds like a perfect plan. It has been a long time coming. The date has changed 4 times due to publishing hiccups and at long last it is imminent. 

After Sunday is over and I can check my launch event off on my to do list I will then focus on researching and completing marketing tasks for the next four months at least, until the book has begun to increase it's ripple effect. If only it were as simple as the checks before the cheques but alas NO. It's not that easy, I don't have an agent or a publishing house behind me but in actual fact I am glad that I don't, because I want to do all the marketing tasks myself to fully understand what is involved in spreading the word about my words. Rather like a factory owner being aware of the menial tasks of his teams efforts, I want to know exactly what is involved every step of the way. I am an apprentice as a writer, publisher and as a promotor and that's fine by me. I'll keep on checking whilst I await the cheques. I intend to post images next week, as I promised at the start of this blog journey to keep you all informed of all stages of the publishing process and a launch event is crucial to the start of the promo journey. 

I also want to share with you today some initial feedback from new readers. These readers are outside of my review team circle and so their reviews are very touching:

1) 'oh my god, I can't put the book down' AMAZING!!, Female 74.

2) Just finished reading your book, wow Jayne what a story!!! couldn't put it down at one point...the book made me laugh and made me cry all the way through, well done you. Now get on with the next one.(Female 60's). However it would appear that the men are enjoying it too, describing it as very well written and phrases like, "I couldn't put it down!" More reviews are available to read by clicking on the link below.

You can get a copy from:

https://completelynovel.com/books/exactly-23-days 

and also from iBOOKS for iPad, iPod and iPhone.

Word of the day: Celebrate. To publicly acknowledge (a significant or happy day or eventwith a social gathering or enjoyable activity. Well I fully intend to on Sunday!


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