Latest NEWS from The Book Shepherd this week / Discover … Authors in Grocery Stores Program

Practical Publishing Advice and Guidance for Authors

I create books authors never have to apologize for …

In this Issue

1. Discover … Authors in Grocery Stores Program

2. Meet ... Ashography

3. Ask Judith … February 27

4. Hot podcasts for February … Add to your calendar and listen

5. Salons for the New Year … March and April are open to register

6. Question of the week … Which hashtags should I use?

7. Smile time … Frank Sinatra: My Funny Valentine

I was stunned with last week’s news from The Washington Post … OMG … it is eliminating its Book Section along with Sports. What? Rumbled through my head. Books? Sports? Jeff Bezos owns WAPO as it is known. Books seeded Amazon in his garage and was the originator of his multi-billion empire. What?

It was a WOWSA Saturday at the Southlands Barnes & Noble. Joseph Caldara and I set up bookselling tables at 9 am and stayed until 5 pm. We both had BEST days. Between the two of us, we sold over 100 copies of our books. When I asked buyers if I could "wrap" it for them ...many said, "YES!" ... and then I added a purple or yellow ribbon around their book and handed it to them. Loved the smiles! . An amazing book buyer connecting day. We were both tired. This spring, I have nine book signings on my calendar.

Jules Marie created an excellent webinar for the AuthorU community: Creating Your Press Releases Forward. The replay was sent out to ONLY AuthorU VIP members and nonmembers who paid to participate.

Meanwhile … it’s final planning for the Publishing at Sea cruise. I’ve sent out my final Ahoy Mateys email with last-minute reminders hich brings me to ask: What’s on your list to Becoming an Author on Fire? Tis' my theme for the year … and for me, it means lots of changes, fast changes, some dramatic, some long overdue. Flipping some of the things that I do … adding new items to my consulting and marketing mix. Becoming an Author on Fire brings “thriving” into your radar. What say you? Are you ready to drop what’s not working? Ready to step into something new?

Once again, the Colorado Authors Hall of Fame will award up to five $2,000 plus Mentorship scholarships. And submissions are coming in! Total value to an aspiring, unpublished author is $17,000. Do you know someone who is an unpublished author who desires to be? Get them to submit their applications NOW. There are only seven weeks open to apply.

On Monday, I had two calls from exciting writers and looked forward to submitting for scholarship consideration. They are in … and I know of two more. The more the merrier … only five scholarships will be granted.

The Authors In Grocery Stores program specializes in placing indie authors in national retail chains, including City Market and King Soopers, which have numerous locations in Colorado. To register, go to: https://authorsingrocerystores.com/faq-page

Here’s the process:

1. Receive a registration email from our scheduling & registration group after filling out the sign-up form.

2. Books are reviewed for content.

3. Once approved, the registration is completed, and an invoice is sent to you.

4. Books are usually registered and scannable at the regional participating grocery stores within 30 days.

5. Book Signings are scheduled through our program and authors select the store, time and date they would like to do their book signings.

6. On the day of the signing, the author brings their books, table, tablecloth, signage and a printed schedule.

7. Customers receive a signed book from the author.

8. The Author is paid 2-3 weeks after the book signings via Zelle or Paper Check.

Judith Briles is YOURS for 60 minutes on Friday, February 27, at 3 pm MT to ask any question you have about book publishing, book marketing, writing a book … or just getting a “little juice” to start your engines after the Holiday rush from the past few weeks.

Post your questions as soon as you come on … Judith will come to you LIVE and bring you on the mic to respond to YOU and possibly ask additional questions.

It’s 60 minutes to start smoke ‘em your Author Success … and why not? Grab your favorite beverage; just listen in … or ASK, ASK, ASK! It’s time to re-juice and rekindle your author energy!

Join Zoom Meeting – click on it or copy/paste

https://zoom.us/j/95000476418?pwd=SH5vWqz0SkvVIZIgnC95lHCmCAi2km.1

Password: authors

Add to Your Calendar: Friday, February 27 at 3 MT (2 PT, 5 CT, 5 ET)

You can always listen in via our website: www.AuthorYOU.org (click on the On the Air image on the Home page—wait for it to upload. Or www.TheBookShepherd.com (click on the Resources tab).

Listen in at: http://bit.ly/BookPublishingPodcast or via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JudithBrilesBS

February 2 Book and Writing Contests … C. Hope Clark
February 12 Online Fraud … Charles Breakfield
February 19 Book Reviews … Patti Thorn
February 26 Bring the Thrive Factor to Your Writing … Laura Beltsen

Answer: You need to probe a bit and get some answers. Who are your ideal buyers? What are their interests? What social media platforms do they use? What are the keywords and phrases that best describe your genre, your expertise? What keywords and phrases do other authors in your genre use in their social media posts? What social media platforms are they using? That’s a start. Use Google and do a search for free hashtag generators. Insert your keyword(s) and see what comes up. At this point, you should have many hashtags to select. Experiment and see which ones appear to grow your presence, bring attention to your website, and even increase book sales.

This is how each call starts: I share a few strategies, tips, and tools that attendees can immediately start to use. All share … and ask plenty of questions. They get answers. Definitely an excellent way to start a Friday. Those of you who aren’t participating are making a mistake. I love the variety of books and authors who have chosen to participate. What’s also fun is the energy that can be felt with what everyone is working on. Love it!

Here’s the link to take advantage of it and subscribe: https://thebookshepherd.com/author-friendly-fridays/

About Judith Briles, The Book Shepherd ™

Book Publishing expert Judith Briles, aka The Book Shepherd, has shepherded more than 1,000 authors and created 500 best-sellers and award-winning books. She knows publishing inside and out from both the traditional and independent sides. Judith is an advocate for authors within her blogs, podcasts and speaking engagements. What’s her pet peeve? Two words: publishing predators.

She hosts the podcast AuthorU-Your Guide to Book Publishing which generates over 250,000 downloads a month. Her website is www.TheBookShepherd, email: JudithBriles.com and phone: 303-885-2207.