Saturday, March 23, 2013

Guest Post Rue Volley DGD TOUR


The amazing Rue Volley has stopped by today for a guest post on my blog for her Double Gun Tour.
Check out her amazing books and don't forget to stop by and like her on facebook to keep up to date on all her releases.

 

Ava is a waitress in a shitty diner in the heart of New York City. Sai is a mysterious stranger who suddenly appears out of nowhere and seems to bring the wrath of hell with him. Sometimes it is better to just keep to yourself, but in Ava's case, this could never be...Sai not only brings hell with him, he also brings all the answers to who and what Ava really is and sets her on the path she was destined to walk. Sexy, action packed with smoking hot love scenes, two guns are definitely better than one.

 
For Brian, life is boring...well, except for the hallucinations and lack of sleep, and oh yeah, the job he has a love/hate releationship with.
Brian is a genius in his field, creating new bio weapons for a company he has no love for, but feels trapped in. He is a loner, has been since his childhood, but longs for a relationship of any kind. His sexual needs are met mostly with his vivid imagination, or perhaps they are real. Who can tell? Along with the hallucinations come a glimpse into the real world Brian is caught up in, one that a beautiful woman, by the name of AVA, is eager to teach him about. "SALEM" is book 2 in the Double Gun Dealer series and takes you into the origin of Brian a.k.a "Salem", letting you know where he came from and where he is going. This series is graphic in nature with violence, intense language, sexual situations and does not come with ice water, but should. 18+ 
 
Marcy has a crappy job at a bar, one she would love to leave, but cannot afford to give up. She also has to endure a creepy neighbor who is a bit too enamored with her, but she just upgraded her life by moving "uptown" as opposed to "down" so the thought of moving again is also a no-go. Then in walks "LONDON", a mysterious stranger with a beautiful accent and all the right things for Marcy...right up until Hell follows him, literally. As things unravel and passions ignite, Marcy finds herself transforming into something she may have always suspected herself of being, explaining so many things in her life. Will she take the plunge and accept her new powers? Will she let LONDON feed her carnal needs? Find out as "LIN" comes into her own in book #3 of the Double Gun Dealer series, where Demon Hunters do it better.
 
 
 
Ethan was born into a life of a whore. His mother was one and his father was a repeat customer. He has never known love, but longs to. Then along comes a beautiful woman by the name of "IZZY", who is about to rock his world in more ways than one, showing him that what he thought was truth was but a lie and that Hell always finds you.

 
Izzy had a terrifying start in life, surviving plague and famine only to end up in the New World fighting for her life as her village was attacked by black winged devils from the sky. It seems her supernatural curse will render her a loner for eternity. Then a handsome young man arrives in town and with him her future follows. Will she finally find the love she longs for or will her curse take everything from her as it always has? This is book 5 in the Double Gun Dealer series and is MALVS 18+.
 
 
Meet Saigon, a sharp tongued and jaded man who hates his station in life as much as he misses his lost love. He is a Hunter, not just any Hunter...he hunts demons who feast on human flesh and wish for destruction. With his dreams and visions becoming stronger, he tries his best to prepare for "her" to finally arrive. Will Saigon find redemption for past sins? Will he finally allow love to penetrate his broken heart and accept his fate? Join us in the incredible conclusion to the DGD series as we come full circle and have all questions answered, proving that everyone and everything are connected in some way. This series is MALVS 18+
 
 
First, thank you for having me. Well now. I have been a published author for over 3 years now and during that time I have learned so much about the literary world it would probably make your head pop off. These are just a few things…
1.Avoid Vanity Presses if you can. They over change on everything and then you get crap for royalties. I went with a HUGE company and yes I did investigate it and there were good and bad things listed…BUT, I was new and so wanted to get my first book out that I set aside fear and just jumped in and I almost drown. For 2 and a half years they sold my book, interfering with the sale of the NEW version that was signed to a publisher and they hid behind shit like "that is another site, we are not making a profit…and let me transfer you to the right department for that." All the while I watched the original linked to me on amazon and people got confused as to which one to buy. In fact a hard copy of it was being sold for $39.99 which is CRAZY! I sell them for $19.99 and ebook is just 99 cents, but anyway, I hired a lawyer, actually two and they did their thing and now the book is gone and I can breathe easy. What a huge pain in my ass! So anyway, stay away from that nonsense. Oh and my "royalties" were literally pennies on the dollar. I think my first royalty check was $10.00 after 6 months of selling my butt off. Boo and hiss…suck it. Moral of the story??? Do it yourself AND shop it to Indie pubs. "Do it yourself" mean buy the programs you need to format, get a website, set up paypal and sell that bad boy yourself. You can have your own account on amazon and sell ebooks, you can have links on your website and sell ebooks too and print and utilize createspace.com to print if you want to be economical. They have quality products and are user friendly. You can also google "free websites" and get one set up for FREE or just pay small fees per month and enable more space for selling product.
2.Join and start groups on Facebook. Now some people will tell you that Facebook is the devil now with promotion but honestly I am not having the problems some people are. First, look at the groups you promote in. Are they promotion friendly? Do they have people complaining about "spamming"? If so…leave. That is NOT where you should be promoting

yourself. Join groups that say "Post at will", ones that interact with each other in a professional manner and do not bully people. The bully groups are jokes anyway. Sorry you did not get a date to the prom but take that shit to therapy right? Anyway, start a group yourself and make that promotion central and branch out. I encountered serious opposition when I first joined FB from some "authors" who just had no intention of helping anyone or linking a single thing. Sad right? Well those people sell nothing and have no idea how to market or promote so if you have them in your circles cut them loose too. I did, I honestly do my best to just stay in the positive and support those who do it for themselves and for others. Those are the people you should associate yourself with anyway. They are on the rise and you certainly want to be too. So anyway, be picky about your groups. Best thing to do is join a few and then learn about other groups from the people in the ones you like. 9 times out of 10 they will lead you to other awesome spots to share your work. Safe spots to post? Come to some of mine, they are full of fabulous people.
Volley View
Ya Ya
Adult Fiction
Erotica
Peep Show
Paranormal Playground
Budget Books
The Kindle Hub
3.Rotate your posts. I say this often to those I help promote and it is true. It is kind of like if you always have pizza, it starts to just taste like cardboard. Well, you have to rotate your posts in groups. Don’t post the same thing in all of them constantly. You should mix it up. I am in 389 groups and I do not post in all of them all of the time. Why would I? I mean after a while no one will read them anyway. I don’t want that. And when you post keep it short and engaging. People want to see your personality, not a salesman. I mean

they already know you want them to go and buy your stuff, they get that but WHY should they buy it is the question? If you cannot entice someone in a post to go check out book then what is your book like? Think about it.
4.Reviews. Goodreads vs amazon. Okay, we all see the posts from time to time after an author has read a crappy review on themselves. Here is the thing…it sucks, we have all had it BUT you have to ignore them. YOU HAVE TOO IGNORE THEM. I said it twice to try to get you to really see it. Why you ask? Well because you only give them all the power and a forum to say more if you do that. You can privately call them a asshat and whatnot but publicly?...let them fade like a nasty fart. Not everyone will like you. Not everyone will think you are amazing. Not everyone will think your book changed their lives forever. Understand and accept this before you release your first book and then put your heavy coat on and weather the storm. There will be some and it is how you move past it that speaks volumes about you and your work. Believe in yourself always. Do not get distracted with that nonsense and OMG…if another AUTHOR does this to you? Holy shit. You tell your lit friends about this. Warn them. Tell them about so and so who took advantage of your kindness as you gave them free stuff for an event to HELP them and then they turned around and did this to you. I would. I mean that is so rude I do not even have to expand on it. That is right. Leave your opinion on other books at the door as you step into the literary world. I don’t think you want to build an army of enemies do you? If you do not like a book, set it down and move on. DO NOT PUBLICLY BASH YOUR LIT BROTHERS AND SISTERS. It is suicide, trust me. I would never ever do that anyway but some are dumb enough to do just that and watch as they sink in oblivion. Goodreads, huh. What a hot mess some days huh? I mean it can be a snake pit of mean ass bitter people. Not everyone on Goodreads is like that but man! Some of the reviews with venom are just scary. So…STOP READING THAT SHIT. I did. In fact I did a year ago. I also make it point to NOT read a single review under a 3. Why? Because I sell a ton of books, I have a fan base and I do not need that type of negativity
messing with my mind and work. I get books done because I do not second guess myself. Some people love me and some don’t and that is fine. I focus on those who buy my books and support me, not the ones who download me for free and then try to bash me. Why should I? I don’t know them, I owe them nothing and that is my last point. Do not feel like you should undercut your worth because you are called Indie. Indie authors are the future of publishing. Understand how very important you are and be proud of your accomplishments and that you are the future of this industry. The big 6(5) fear you, and they should. You control your work, your covers your marketing, your promotion. You represent you without all of the middle men taking a bite. So rock it. Don’t allow them to turn their noses up at you and call you a plight on the industry, we are not at all. If we did not matter then why are they talking about us? Yep….exactly.
5.Covers. Holy shit. Okay. Here is the thing. My opinion is this….LESS IS MORE. Do not place 55 things on your cover representing the whole story. Keep it simple, entice them. This is your dinner party and you can either show up in a great dress and kickass heels or naked. Your choice. I mean this is it, this is your one shot to get a reader to choose your book over millions. Make it count. Use hi def pictures, great resolution, crisp text and look at the popular books and learn what is working. I often reference new books to see what the trends are in book covers. I never copy but I like to stay on top of what is happening as anyone in business would.
6.Last thing this time around is understand it will take time, lots of it. You have to work harder at promotion and marketing then you do at writing the book. Sounds crazy but trust me it is true. You have to make and keep connections, cut ties with those who are negative and doing nothing to help you or themselves, avoid drama, keep pushing and things will happen for you. Take all opportunities to expand on your fanbase with giveaways, blogs, interviews, joining groups, posting, hosting events and so on. You build and create yourself and it is only you that cares the most about your

book. Listen to that and understand it. This is your show, go into it and represent yourself as you should, be giving but over generous, dedicate time each day to it and make this what you want it to be….I did.
 
 
 
 
 
 

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