Feature & Follow #20

Meme: Feature Follow

Day: Friday 

Hosts: Parajunkee & Alison Can Read

Premis: The meme hosts will 1) feature two (2) blog sites and 2) propose two questions that participating bloggers will answer on their blogs sites and give their followers the chance to join in.

This week's featured blogs: Pretty Deadly Reviews and Boarding with Books

*Follow these sites 

This week's featured questions: Don't forget to leave a comment.

Q: Give us a sneak! What are you reading? Tell us about a fun or fail scene in your current read.

A: I just completed April's NaNoWriMo and am officially a 2013 winner. As such, the only book I've even looked at recently is the book I'm writing, Underground (Secrets, #2). I've been eating, sleeping, and breathing Emily Riddle's world, one that is unlike anything most of us could ever imagine because it's one where women are not equals... they are more like slaves and baby factories than actual human beings.

This book is nowhere near finished (or edited), but I thought it would be nice to share one of my favorite (so far) excerpts from it. Please know, I will change this a hundred times before it gets published, but it will give fans of Grave Bound (Secrets, #1) a glimpse into Emily's newest adventure. Believe me when I say that  Grave Bound (Secrets, #1)  may have been filled with twists and turns, but it doesn't have anything on Underground (Secrets, #2). ❤

Excerpt (Emily):

There's no way he'll find me.

I stop, lean my hand against one of the forest's many giant oaks, bend over, and rest until my breathing slows and my lungs are no longer burning. Time does nothing for my legs. They are still contorted with searing cramps that won't seem to go away. Unable to run—or walk—another step, I slip to the ground near the tree and curl up beneath it. I scoot closer to it several times and don't stop until I'm as far into the base of the oak as I can squeeze. The last thing I want right now is for Noah to find me.

After a few minutes, I pull Levi's cellphone from my pocket, turn it on, and study it. I'm surprised the device is still charged. I search through it's folders... desperate to discover something new about the man I loved... longing to hear his voice.

Levi has dozens of people listed under his contacts. The name that catches my attention right away is Tope Bryson, DA. Without thinking, I push the call button. I'm not sure I really want to talk to him, but I dont' want to be alone either.

"Hello?" Tope says, cautiously.

I don't say anything. I just needed to hear his voice.

"Who is this?" Tope asks and there is hope in his voice. His hope may have been silent, but it spoke to the place in me that is broken, beaten, battered, and bruised.

"It's me," I whisper.

FEATURE FOLLOW RULES (as described on Parajunkee)

To join the fun and make new book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

• (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
• (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers
• Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
• Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say “hi” in your comments and that they are now following you.
• If you are using WordPress or another CMS that doesn’t have GFC (Google Friends Connect) state in your posts how you would like to be followed
• Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don’t just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don’t say “HI”
• If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love…and the followers
• If you’re new to the follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Indie Author Series: Keywords & Tags

This week's Indie Author Series is all about Keywords & Tags and the important role they play in an indie author's success.

Keywords/Tags are among the most enigmatic aspects of marketing . They're hard to get your arms around because they're not instantly visible and/or you can't prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are as important as everyone claims. 

Regardless of what you think of them, you will benefit by meticulously planning the keywords/tags that you will use. There are tools that will help you decide which will result in the highest chances of a web search hit for your word... and ultimately your book. 

Before you access the tool, you should create lists of keywords that pertain to your book. If you are an indie author, many will fit the bill. I'll use myself as an example: new adult; indie; series; romance; suspense. 

Take that list and enter it in Google's Keyword Tool (it requires that you sign up but it is FREE). If you look below and follow the sites instructions, you will see that the tool allows you to identify words/phrases that are highly searched. The important thing here is to make sure the 4-5 keywords chosen are balanced and that they accurately represent your book.

Once you've studied the statistics associated with these searches and you've decided which keywords/tags you will be using, you can add them to Amazon, B&N, Smashwords, etc. Doing so will allow potential readers to access your book quickly and easily, and it will help search engines rank your book. 

This entire process is relatively easy and painless, which means there's no reason not to take a few minutes to plan this out. After all, you've spent months (or years) building worlds and creating characters. You might as well give your book as much of an advantage to be seen and read as you possibly can.