Guest Post - Ann Marie Meyers

Today I have the privilege of introducing Ann Marie Meyers, one of the most kindest, sweetest people I've ever met. Ann Marie grew up in Trinidad and Tobago in the West Indies. She has a degree in languages and translates legal and technical documents from French and Spanish into English. She lives in Toronto, Ontario, with her husband and energetic daughter. Ann Marie is also the author UP IN THE AIR, which just released on July 6, 2013. Here's a little synopsis of the book:

Ever since she can remember, ten-year-old Melody has always wanted to fly.

And when she leaps off a swing in the park one day and lands in the mystical realm of Chimeroan, her dream finally comes true. She is given a pair of wings. She can fly! Life cannot be any better.
Yet, dreams do come with a price. Even with wings, Melody realizes she cannot outfly the memories of her past. The car accident that has left her father paralyzed, and her unscarred, still plagues her with guilt—she believes that it was entirely her fault.

In Chimeroan, Melody is forced to come to terms with her part in her father's accident. She must choose between the two things that have become the world to her: keeping her wings or healing her father.

Find Ann Marie on Facebook, Twitter, or via her Official Website.
UP IN THE AIR is available via Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Read updated reader reviews via Goodreads.

As I side note, I think that people with legal document experience make incredibly talented authors.

Now, without any further ado, I turn the floor over to Ann Marie.

*holds up APPLAUSE sign*

(Make sure to keep reading to the end, where you'll find a $25 Amazon gift card giveaway!)

The Different Faces of Social Media

When I was a kid, I remember my father saying that many business deals were made on the golf course.

Well, to some degree, social media has become the golf course for authors.

You have no idea how long I have avoided being sucked into the world of Social Media. However, in the past few months of social networking, I have begun to see that the advantages of interacting on such a global scale.

Nowadays there are many very successful self-published authors who use social media to promote their books. Even traditionally published authors have been able to expand their fan base and attract readership and buyers.

Still, the many options available are a bit daunting because there are dozens of social media sites. I have personally stuck with a few: FB, Twitter, Pinterest (a new addition), Goodreads, Google+ and my blog. Hmm, so maybe a bit more than a few. I’ve definitely caved in.

Facebook connects people with friends and colleagues around the world. It is also a great way for authors to promote themselves and gain a large following. The Facebook Author Page also allows authors to be personable and to show a side of themselves that potential readers would normally never see.

Twitter has a different focus. Unlike Facebook, you are only allowed 140 characters per tweet. You need to be concise and to the point while getting as much information as possible across. Twitter has a broader fan base and is able to connect not only with friends and colleagues but also celebrities, experts in various fields, even the news media. Plus you can attach links to blogs or any site on the web. It’s also okay to retweet the same thing several times (be careful of spamming though).

I’m not too familiar as yet with Pinterest, but from what I have seen, it allows people to connect on a visual level and conveys a side to someone you might never see with mere words. You can also post the cover of your book, trailers and others pin these to your ‘boards’. People then pin what attracts them to their boards; they may even tweet about it, send it via FB. And the word spreads…

Goodreads is an amazing site for recommending books, and it’s also a way to get reviews for your book. Another way to promote your book is by offering Giveaways. You can imagine how successful that can be.

With just these few social media venues, I have been able to make more connections than I could have every imagined a few months ago. And I’ve only just started.

Done properly, social media can create for you a fan base of thousands. Let’s say then that only 10% of those people read your book (and like it) – that’s a few hundred people who can potentially spread the word to their friends, who just may buy the book and spread the word to their friends, and so on and so on…

Therefore, though somewhat daunting, it seems that social media Is here to stay – and who knows what the future will hold.

Of course there’s always a downside. The challenge is to keep social media interaction to a level that minimizes the risk of socializing too much over writing. And please don’t take an absence of ‘likes’ to your FB posts or a lack of responses to tweets or blog posts as a personal affront. I won’t get into this here because that’s a whole other topic.

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