Wednesday, May 14, 2014

I HAVE BECOME MY FATHER

There are worst things that I could have become but the worst thing for me, is becoming my father. See, you don't understand.

See for me, I would say to myself "I am never going to say that" whenever he said something crazy to me. he would sometimes say, "If it were a snake, it would have bitten you." when I couldn't find anything. It wasn't like I was asking him to FIND whatever I was looking for. I was simply making an announcement.

First of all, I hate snakes and he knew it, yet he said it all the time when I said, "dad, I can't find............(fill in the blank)

Secondly, snakes are not looking for things except their next meal or maybe a hiding place from people like me.

and third...why would a snake want anything I was looking for...(geez dad)

Imagine my horror when I said, to no one in particular..."If it were a snake, it would have bitten me." and I wasn't talking to anyone. I was looking for my sunglasses because I couldn't find them. (I guess that is the only reason to look for something, huh?)

For three days I looked in the car, the house and in my purse and nothing.

I get into the car this morning and what is sitting on the back seat...the sunglasses. Now here is the thing. I looked in the car but not in the back seat. Hence why I said it would have bitten me.

It's safe to say, that if a snake were in my backseat, and somehow crawled to the front, and slithered across my feet while driving, one of two things would have happened.

I would have crashed the car or I would have traded my car in! End of story. Most likely I would have stopped the car, got out and ran away from it like a deer running from hunters!

But that wasn't the scary part..the scary part came when I realized that I had did the unthinkable.

So on May 13th at 5:47 in the morning, I BECAME MY FATHER!

Gasp! The Horror! and now all that is left is for me to sit in the chair in the corner, turn on CNN and complain that there is nothing on television.

Monday, May 12, 2014

I AM EVERYWHERE YOU SHOULD BE

Where are you?

That is what I find myself asking whenever I am at an event and I am the only author there. I have been to wine tasting, grand openings, dinners, networking events and at least 6 out of the last 10 times, I was the ONLY author in attendance.

Why aren't I seeing more authors? You must know that this is the way that you make connections. This is the way that you get new readers, this is the way that you meet some people that can help you along in your journey.

Why aren't I see more authors at event's given BY authors? These are also the events that you need to be at. Supporting another author is also a way to make more connections to readers that might not know the genre that you write or maybe they may be the leader of a book club and want more local authors to come and chat with their members.

Why aren't I see more of you at these types of events? Why aren't I seeing more authors at event's like +MaliceDomesticConference or +LoveIsMurder or +Thrillerfest or +MDC3. These are all conferences or conventions that gather lots of readers and very few authors.

So again, Why aren't I seeing more of you at these events?


Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Marketing and Branding...two different things

A lot of people ask me, why do you always say that marketing and branding are two different things?

That's because they are. Marketing is what you do to get your novel, product or name out in the public eye. Branding is when you are in the public eye and people recognize your novel, product or name by the 'symbol' that you have associated it with.

I am sure that whenever you see an I Pad, you see an APPLE and that APPLE is their brand. When you see Under Armour you see the double U intertwined to look like a U and an A...that symbol is their brand.

For me, whenever people see B.S.W..they think B. Swangin Webster. and that is my brand. Those initials are something that I purposefully wanted to everyone to see whenever I am around. Everything I do, has B. S or W on it. That is why when I tell people start marketing yourself six months BEFORE your novel hits, and make sure that you know what BRAND you want people to remember because when you book comes out, you want that BRAND to be the first thing they see and remember...oh, that (insert your name here:__)

I'm all over social media and when you type in B. Swangin; you will immediately see me...yippee! So my branding is working and my marketing efforts are paying off.

So, tell me what BRAND are you creating to make sure that you stand out among all of the authors dropping books this month and have you started MARKETING yet?



Monday, May 5, 2014

Book Divas On Tour

This past weekend, May 3rd to be exact. The Book Diva's hit the road and was at the MGH Clubhouse in Capitol Heights Maryland.

Our host was Veronica and we had a blast! The crowd was small and intimate and we shared our stories and we shared a lot of laughs.

We, The Book Divas, know that we are undertaking a huge task by putting ourselves at the mercy of our adoring fans but that is what this is all about.

The question was raised, why are we doing this?

Our answer: so that you can get to know us.

We love what we do. Our motto is, Bold, Delightful, Outspoken, Talented, Sister's in Writing and that is exactly what we are.

We are sisters in every sense of the word. We cross promote each other, we share each other's passion and best of all we love hanging out together.

We have developed our own 'language' as it were and whenever you are in our presence, you can't help but laugh right along with us.

We are having fun bringing to you our readings, our stories and our passion.

You can find us on Facebook by LIKING our page. www.facebook.com/bookdivasontour and see where we will be next.