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bookplatesI know a lot of people say that brick and mortar bookstores are a dying breed, but those same people also say that about libraries. I think so long as people thirst for knowledge, stay book junkies, and seek a little socialization with others whose needs are the same, brick, mortar and libraries are safe. That being said, I’ve been invited to be on a YA and Children’s Literature Panel at a Barnes and Noble Bookstore in San Jose inside of Eastridge Mall. There will be a book fair in the store featuring books from all of the panelists.

My song and dance: (even though you can’t hear and see it, which actually might not be too bad for you 😉 ) The Fourth Piece is gonna be in Barnes and Noble! La, la, la!

Some authors might not care too much about this. When it comes to sales, some say they do better through Amazon and don’t make much from bookstore sales, but you know what? I’m one of those authors who want to see my books on a bookstore shelf, a library shelf, a personal bookshelf. Two down… the bookstore left to go, and it’s happening! 😀

What am I going to do on this panel? Well, I heard in the past, the authors all did a book talk about their books and genre. This year the panel is going to be more focused on individual authors talking up the books they’ve brought to sell. We’ll each get our own little table/booth to decorate and swag-up and we’ll be set up near the food 😀 (Stroke of genius!) In previous years, they’d set up near the children’s section, but because the YA section and Children’s section of this B&N are not close, it’s not advantageous to all. Also, they determined that areas closer to the food get more foot traffic. (I’m a believer in this. No matter what books I search out, I always drift over to Starbucks in the end.)

So, now, I’m focusing on my elevator pitches, and what I’m going to bring to swag-out my table. I ordered more bookmarks, I’ve got my fancy new bookplates, I’m bringing my big The Fourth Piece book cover poster, and several smaller posters of the awesome promo images my publisher made for me. I don’t know how big my table will be, so I might have to prop some posters on the floor, but I want my booth to be eye candy. Hmm…candy. Free candy is always good to put out too.

The event is going to be on Saturday, December 10, 2016 from 2-3:30 pm, at Barnes and Noble Eastridge in San Jose, California. If you live nearby, please come in and say “hey!” If you come up and tell me you’re there because of my blog, I might have a free treat for you! ;).

I’ll end this with a question. If you go to B&N or any bookstore and an author is there at a booth, selling books, and talking… what would entice you to come over and see what’s going on, aside from the book being your genre?

Thanks to everybody out there listening, reading, you know what I mean. Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate the holiday and, as I always, take care!

Until next time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I had to blog today, because I feel that I must share this um…well, I don’t quite know how to describe my recent transactions with the post office. I’m just gonna take it from the top and let you all decide what you’d call it.

So, a friend of mine purchased a copy of The Fourth Piece for his friend. He wanted me to sign it and write a personalized letter, so he ended up purchasing the book from me personally. I autographed the book and shipped it media mail to Michigan on September 16th. By September 29th, the package still hadn’t been delivered. In fact, when I checked the tracking, it hadn’t even left the post office. So, I went in to talk to the post office manager. He says:”Oh no, I’ll have to contact consumer affairs. They’ll call you in a few days. We don’t know what’s going on!”

A week goes by. The package is still in limbo. No one knows where it is. On October 7th, I go back to the post office to inquire about it. Now the manager checks the tracking and says: “Oh, it made it to Michigan! They tried to deliver it, but couldn’t leave the package at the door. Looks like people forgot to scan the package as it was traveling, so that’s why we couldn’t track it.”

 

So, uh, what’s the point in a tracking number, man? Anyhoo, I contact the person I’d sent the package to, and she says: “Well, the package came, but the post office says I have to pay $5 to get it, because they’ve declared that what you sent didn’t qualify as media mail.”

Now I’m totally confused. Since when have books not been considered media mail? I even received a letter from the Michigan post office telling me that I owed them $4.76 worth of postage for my non-media mail package with a brochure inside that explained to me what does classify as media mail. And yes, books are on this list. So, again, why was my book not media mail?

In the meantime, I’ve sent the customer another book on October 11th (which still hasn’t been received.) That’s about $40 in the mail, and I’m starting to get a little mad. I’m about to march down to the post office again, when I get a message. The customer went to the post office in Michigan, paid the $5 to have the hostage package released, and opened it to find:

post-office-package-bumper-stickersUm… that’s not a book. What the heck is this stuff??? And to top it off, the envelope has obviously been ripped open and clumsily taped back together.

What is going on???

Did somebody remove my book because they thought it was the devil’s work and replace it with prayer and Pokemon?

Or did they just rip off the book and think stuffing the envelope with a bunch of junk and sending it on its way was funny?

Is this not bizarre??? I’m going to show this to my local post office and see what they have to say. But geez…. how does this happen? If I didn’t know the people who placed the order, they might have accused me of being a scamming author. This is craziness.

I get so worried when I mail things now. I jokingly told some co-workers I was going to buy a horse and revive the Pony Express.

All right, I do apologize for this blog post being a rant, but the story was just too strange not to tell. Who does this happen to? Certainly not me…until now.

On a more normal note, I’m actually going to truly commit to Nanowrimo next month. No, I still won’t be working on anything brand new, but I’m going to polish a novel :D. Are any of you doing Nano this year? Good luck to you if you are!

Until next time, take care!

 

 

 

 

 

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It has been a little while since I blogged last. But come on, even you have to admit I’m not as bad as I used to be :P.

So much is going on. Work has been so crazy busy. I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. I know why some people say you can’t be a professional writer and hold down a full-time job. Writing has to be your job–or rather, promoting is your job if you’re truly serious about not working, because you have to sell books to pay bills. I do not have any plans to quit my job and thus lose a steady pay check, so I’m gonna keep putting on my big girl pants and get it done.

I have been doing online promotions, author interviews, radio shows, TV shows (okay, yes, one radio show and one TV show, lol), doing readings, running a critique group, planning launch parties, doing author take-over events online, PLUS maintaining my fabulous front of being a teen librarian by day…and sometimes by night. I also dare to go out from time to time, lol.

I think things are going well. I’m pleased with the reviews I’ve been getting and the welcoming responses from the community I live in. (Monterey is awesome!) My co-workers are really putting themselves out getting things ready for my launch party at the Library. (September 10 from 2-4 for anyone in North Cali.) There will be henna. A high school senior will be doing interpretations of Order’s Mark on willing guests. There will be make-overs. My friend’s lovely daughter is an amazing artist who is practicing designs to make brave guests ready to blend in with the other Visitors. 😀 Also, I will have door prizes! I ordered mugs and a travel cup with character images and quotes on them. The food is going to look very sci-fi (but it will be safe I swear.) I’m going to read, show some books trailers and teasers, do some Q&A, sell and sign some books, and take a lot of pictures.

I’m excited. This is my first book launch party. My second will be a few days later in San Francisco. Check my event calendar for more details. That one I’m not so sure about what will go on. It is being thrown by a group called Left Coast Writers. They’re sweet! They are the ones who got me the radio spot. The party will be held at Book Passage, a large independent book store.

Okay, now I bet you want to know why I’m rambling, because I am rambling. I do have something I want to show you. I want to debut my new professional book trailer for The Fourth Piece and let you guys see a “do-over” trailer that I felt one of my characters deserved.

I’m going to end this with the trailers. I hope you all are doing well, I want you to take care, and next time you hear from me I’ll have PARTY PICTURES!

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…little ball of claws.

Sorry for the random entry title. I promise I’m going to talk about some book stuff, but first I must share this. My lovely co-worker has foster kittens, and I’ve been invited over to meet the fuzzy little bundles. They are adorable in their pictures, but uh… so here it is. I will admit it. Cats are scary. But I am braving the kitties tonight. My co-workers think they will convert me into being a cat-lover. But you know what my response is when they talk about those kittens? WHY COULDN’T THEY BE PUPPIES???

All right. Enough of that, lol. So, here’s my author update. I was so excited about checking my sales stats on Friday. I can’t tell anything by those line graphs Amazon provides. Amazon even says the graphs don’t really depict your sales, just a comparison of your book against others in rankings. But every Friday, you’re supposed to be able to get an actual book count. So, I log into Amazon Author Central on Friday morning and it tells me that I’ve sold a grand total of… 0 books.

Lies! Lies Amazon tells me! Heck, I bought one. What’s going on? So, I ask someone else who’s been published a lot longer than me (who hasn’t been? 😀 ) and they say: Oh Amazon’s dashboard has been having issues this week. Try back in a few days. My outward response: Oh, okay, thanks. My inner response: WHAT? HOW DARE AMAZON BREAK DURING MY FIRST WEEK OF SALES???

Siiigh. I really want to know how many sold. I’m not expecting huge numbers, any numbers at all will please me. But I do want to know.

I’m also waiting for a couple more reviews to come, though I find I’m not constantly checking anymore. You really do get over it. I didn’t think I would. However, this doesn’t mean I don’t care about reviews anymore. On the contrary, I just don’t feel the overwhelming urge to check every 5 minutes. I finally really feel like it’s time to get back to writing–for real this time.

This is my update for the week. I have a reading coming up next Thursday, so I’ll pop up again with more randomness before then ;).  Thanks to all of you guys out there reading this, and until next time…

Take care!

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microphones

I hear about other authors doing interviews and I think: that’s cool. I read them and get to know the author’s demeanor a bit and decide, hey I like her/him. We could be friends, therefore, maybe I’ll go see if I can find their book. So, if an interview can do that for other authors, could an interview I give potentially do that for me.

I don’t know. It’s just like when you start a new job or join a new meet-up group. You never know if people are going to get your humor or be off-put by you. So, when I did my interview, I was as “me” as possible, and we’ll see what happens.

Thank you to Magda from the Magic of Books blog for wanting to ask me questions, an if you all would like to check out my first author interview, here you go: https://maginibooks.wordpress.com/2016/07/10/interview-with-e-ardell/.

Until next time! Take care :).

 

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The-Fourth-Piece-Promo-5

It arrived at noon today. Well, maybe before noon. The package was waiting for me in my chair when I came back from working the reference desk (yes, I am an honest to G librarian). The stork finally delivered. First, I walked around the office area, holding the package like a baby. (And it kind of felt like one, the peanut wrap inside felt like a Huggies.) I got a little misty eyed. Then after some urging from my coworkers, I cut open the package and held my baby!

baby born kissing book I wanted to kiss him, but I didn’t want to get lip gloss on him. Then I paraded him around the library and had my coworker take pictures, lol. Then, I flipped through the pages and admired. Then I went in search of my coworkers who hadn’t seen it yet. Some of my library people have already started reading the book and they are telling me good things. We’ll see how they like the entire thing. I hope they do :).

So, now I’m constantly looking at ratings and Amazon stats. I don’t know how to read Amazon stats, so I hope the stuff I see is good :D. I checked Twitter and YA Book Central to make sure my ads were going as planned, and YES they are! So, I’m going out tonight to celebrate.

Thank you to anyone who rated or bought my darling. I hope you enjoy him. Feel free to leave a review and tell me what you think!

whats up book!Until next time. I’ll probably have some stats or something to talk about then. Take care!The Fourth Piece‘s birthday is today! RSVP for the party at:

 

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The-Fourth-Piece-Promo-4It’s almost here. Tomorrow. I just got my Net Galley stat report back today. One hundred and five people downloaded ARC’s of The Fourth Piece. I don’t know if this means I should expect 105 reviews, though, lol. I wonder what percentage of people download and review. I mean, you also have to take into consideration that maybe they didn’t like the book, and kindly chose not to review. I can respect that. If I feel that I can’t leave at least 3 stars, I don’t review it. It obviously wasn’t my cup of tea, but maybe somebody else will like it.

Of course, you want to believe your baby will always be somebody’s cup of tea. But hey, who here can claim they have liked every book they ever read? Even if it has rave reviews and all your friends loved it? I can’t claim that either. Far from it. So, whenever I read a review, I have to keep that in mind. However, that said, the reviews I’ve gotten so far haven’t been bad. A few were rather critical, but not bad. I look forward to more feedback. Book II is still in the making after all. Of course you can’t take all feedback and restructure a planned series, but if someone makes a really good point… Well. Who’s to say they might not see it later?

Okay, I just wanted to post to continue my count down until the day (tomorrow!)

Save the date: July 8, 2016!

 

 

 

 

 

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The-Fourth-Piece-Promo-1

Is it almot the 7th? I’m about to jump out of my skin I’m so antsy. I’ve also been looking into more promotions. I joined this group AAYA that has great promotional suggestions. The new resources I looked into are: Book Barbarian, Book Discovery, The Fussy Librarian, K-Boards and another blog tour company called Chapter by Chapter. just confirmed dates for a Chapter by Chapter Blog Tour to happen a month after the YA Bound Book Tour. YA Bound likes for authors to wait 30 days before going on a tour with another company. They say it’s to avoid chaos. I’ll take their word for it, because I’ve never done this before, lol.

I also looked at Xpresso Tours and HEA Tours (I actually looked at HEA a few weeks ago), but I did want to share the feedback. Both of these places have excellent customer service, and I was informed that they do not really have a blogger market for YA Science Fiction or Fantasy, especially ones that aren’t romantic. Both places offered up other resources; HEA actually recommending YA Bound Books.

I also came across a directory of YA Bloggers. I haven’t started going through the list yet. I wonder how many people on it are still taking requests from new authors. This is fun and I love trying to figure out what else I can do to push my book. I even discussed the possibility of an audio book and listened to other authors tell me about their experiences with ACX.

Oh, and I planned my own little get together celebration for July 8, 2016. (Yaaaas!) Some co-workers and I are getting together after work. I will probably have some more small parties and then the real launch parties. I sent out an e-vite for the get together on Friday, telling my co-workers to meet me at a restaurant. They’d know me because I’d be the one wearing my book, lol. That kind of makes me kick myself, though.  I should have had a shirt made. Dang it.

Anyways, enough rambling. One more day! Tick…tick…tick…

Save the date! July 8, 2016

The Fourth Piece will be available through:

 

 

 

 

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July 8, 2016 is almost here. One of my friends just let me know that she pre-ordered a print copy of The Fourth Piece and it will be delivered to her on the 8th. I just sent the message out on Facebook: Hey everybody! Order the print book now and you’ll get it on the 8th, same as the eBook!

I just know that when that book is in my hand I’m going to kiss it like a newborn baby. Tears will flow. I will blubber. And then I’ll dance around like a crazy person (so… I guess that means I’ll dance around like myself then, hah!)

My eyes keep going to Goodreads, checking my stats. Every time a review gets posted or my rating changes, I’m on it like a hawk. The reviews have been great to read. One of them got me so excited to write more of the sequel, The Third Gambit, because the reader felt so strongly about something that I’m going to address in Book II. I guess what I’m saying is, this is nerve-wracking but crazy exciting at the same time! I wonder if I’ll ever stop being intrigued by reviews? Nah! Whether they be good or bad, I love feedback.

I’m still booking blog tours and e-mailing bloggers and reviewers. I have a reading booked for the end of July, but hopefully there will be a launch party this month too. If not, I’ve got one scheduled in August as well. I don’t know, it kind of feels like I’m not doing all that much for the actual day of release, or month of release. So… I changed that. I’m going on a twitter rampage starting the 8th, and I’m also running an ad on YA Book Central starting on the 8th. Got some prime real estate on there ;). Check it out on the 8th.

Sorry, I guess I don’t have all that much new to say right now, but I’m too excited not to post anything. Plus, I want to show off my new promotional images :D. Expect daily posts up until release date… and then a few after that too, maybe.

Take care guys, and don’t forget to save the date! On July 8, 2016 The Fourth Piece will be available on:

 

 

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takeover

I can write another book about all the things that have happened since I last made an entry. Call me lazy. Nah, go ahead, do it. I’m lazy. I should have been blogging like crazy these last few weeks. All right, you ready? Let’s go!

BIG NEWS: JULY 8, 2016!

What’s that? My release date! Both print and e-book formats of The Fourth Piece will be available for purchase from the publisher’s website: 48fourteen.com, Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, and select bookstores.

You can pre-order your Kindle-edition right now: http://amzn.to/24I4HNr  (WOOHOO!!)

Next off, tomorrow, I’m doing an Author Takeover Event through my publisher. Basically, 48fourteen lets some of their authors take over their Facebook page for 6-8 hours a day. My day is Sunday, June 12, 2016 from 12 PM to 6PM Central time ( 10am-4pm for me!) I’m going to be doing giveaways (free stuff for you!) and challenges and interacting with readers practically all day and I’m stoked!

Here’s the invite link: https://www.facebook.com/events/250136265348256/.

Networking events! I’m scheduled to do two readings, one at Old Capitol Books and Juice ‘N Java at PG! (I will post more specific information about these in EVENTS.) I also had a write-up about me in the Monterey County Weekly (http://bit.ly/1Yky5cR) and I’ll be filming a television appearance on August 4th!

Things I still have to do: plan some book release parties. I’ve got two currently in the making. Talk to some independent book stores. Hit up some more of my library connections to see which libraries might want to carry The Fourth Piece (because of course mine will ;). ) Make some author swag! And finalize which blog tours and review sites ad book promotions tools I’m actually going to use.

I hate to say it, but I’ve been so busy I haven’t written anything new. Ugh! But that will change soon. I’m going to start scheduling writing dates with myself. I get a treat if I do good and write X-amount at any given time. But I need to find a way to make that treat not involve food, or shopping… or spending money… Well darn, that’s a boring date. I’d stand myself up!

Hah, but any way, I’ll figure something out, but new writing will happen and happen soon.

All right, so for anyone who reads my long-winded posts, I just wanted to give you all an update on what’s going on with my book and writing. Take care guys, and I hope you’ll participate in the Author Takeover or hey, pre-order my book :D.

Take care!