VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

I want to encourage all of you to join us at this exciting event! Regardless of your level of writing experience—from the published author to the uninitiated, never-before-published authors!—this conference has something significant for every participant! Below is a short description of our speakers and their topics for your information and planning! This year, because of the diversity of topics, the number of speakers I was able to procure, and trying to fit everything in during the two days of the event, we have break-out sessions during each day’s programming. I think we have prepared the sessions in such a way that everyone will be able to attend speakers who will be most helpful and informative. Don’t forget that our “Early Bird” registration takes place prior to August 1st, 2012. Take advantage of the significant savings as well as helping us with the organization and planning. Also, the Lexington Hotel, the site of the conference, has reserved a block of ...

Amazon is designed to help you sell more books. Each product page is packed with features to make it as easy as possible for a customer to buy your book. Here's a few Amazon optimization musts to get your product page looking it's best: Make sure you have a quality looking cover. It should be clear, professional and convey the genre and feel of your book. Have a great product description. This is your sales pitch to potential buyers. What's your book about and why will it benefit them. Collect book reviews. Which book would you buy, one with no customer comments or one with several 5 star reviews? Add tags to your product pages. These are the keywords that will help your book show up in search results. Use Shelfari to add value to your book. Shelfari is owned by Amazon and so directly effects the information that shows on your product page. I'm still new to it but it's definitely worth checking out. Check out the K...

  There are many reasons why people choose to start blogging. My reason was simple…I wanted contact with liked minded people and those who could say more than a few words. Yes, I started blogging when I still had little ones in diapers at home like many mommy bloggers. However, I found that after a few weeks blogging was a bit more challenging with a baby in the house than writing a book or managing my online magazine for kids. Unlike writing on assignment or even when a new idea pops into your head, blogging requires daily, weekly and even monthly postings. As a writer I thought, It won’t be hard to start a blog. Wrong! Hard it was as I found I didn’t have the weeks or months to fine-tune my blog posts. I had hours or days at most with a baby demanding my time and a preschooler turning my house into an juggle gym. Then there was the constant “what should I write about today or this week” muse nagging at...

As you all know, I like to share blog posts and do guest posts on topics I feel can help benefit all of you. I was contacted about this post and really found it interesting let alone most everything else on the blog. If you're not one to follow many bloggers I do highly suggest you add Book Marketing Buzz Blog to that limited list. Everyone is trying to use social media to launch their books.  But what is the secret sauce for getting others to willingly be soldiers in your war? What will motivate others to retweet, post, or share our messages and links with their pool of followers, friends, family, and fans? Why should they go out on a limb for you, especially if you are a stranger? Why would they waste their time or risk looking stupid for sharing something that may not go over well with others? How will you even get them to look at, let alone be interested in, your blog posts, videos, or podcasts? Even though it is relatively quick and effortless to forward a link to others ...

Book Lovers June '12 Blog Hop: Make friends, share the love of reading and be entered to win a FREE book!   All you have to do is post the Book Lovers Blog Hop and World of Ink Tour Banners below to your blog. You are free to copy any of the content here on this blog hop page to help promote the Book Lovers Hop and World of Ink Tours on any social network.    Tweet it once to twice a day, share on Facebook, LinkedIn, SumbledUpon, Pinerest, etc and then follow others back that leave you a comment.    By joining the Book Lovers Blog Hop, you are automatically entered in our Book Giveaway! There will be three (3) winners for this Book Giveaway. The winners will win a copy of one book.  First place winner will receive In All Things: Giving Thanks When Hope Seems Lost by Laura Smith Second place winner will receive Porcupine's Seeds by Viji K. Chary Third place winner will receive Out and About at the Zoo by Jo Linsdell Note: One book per...

  Laura Smith works as a medical coding and reimbursement specialist in Northern Minnesota. She spent her youth on a small dairy farm in Northeast Minnesota. She was married two weeks after her high school graduation. Three years and two children later, she was facing divorce and single parenthood. She moved to a college town in north central MN where she hoped to earn a degree and make a life for her and her two young daughters. There she met and married the love of her life. Together they embarked on a life together as a ready-made family facing all the challenges that comes with it. They had no idea that the life experiences they walked through early on and one life altering event would prepare them for the ultimate challenge, the possible death of their daughter. VS: I want to thank you, Laura for being my guest here on The Writing Mama today. I really enjoyed reading your book, In All Things: Giving Thanks When Hope Seems Lost. I was wondering; how long have y...