Why Every Indie Author Should Participate in an Author Takeover

                Earlier this week I participated in my first Author Takeover Event on Facebook. The event was held for Chelsy's Book Review page to celebrate how far she had come. 

               I started out as a guest at the event, invited by my writer friend, Leanne Rathbone (Author of Grace). I had so much fun during her slot that I left a comment for the hostess asking if she was looking for any other authors. Since this was a two week long event Chelsy was happy to schedule me in this past Monday night. 

            To prepare for my takeover I watched what the other authors were doing and I planned out my hour-long takeover. I stuck to a basic plan; introduce myself, introduce my books, throw in a couple giveaways, post some fun facts about my books, add in a few links for my social pages and a personality quiz I developed for Out of Darkness, allow a little Q&A session, and finally at the end of my time thank the host.

  

           Let me tell you, I had an amazing time. It was great talking to potential readers about not just my books, but about inspiration, music, and other things. 

         I know what you're thinking, "why should I want to do this? What makes you think anyone at the event will buy my books afterwards?" 

       Well, let's take potential sales off the table. You are interacting with potential readers. If you end up giving away a copy or two of your book but you gain a new fan who will want to read more books by you then you can count it as a win. Showing people you're friendly, personable, and above all approachable is of vital importance. 

       I'll let you in on a secret... Book Signings make me nervous. I'm not the most outgoing person in the world but I know book signings are all a part of the process. Author Takeover events can be just as worthwhile. And the best part? You can do it from home in your ratty PJs with your hair wrapped in a towel. It's so easy and it's basically like your normal social media self-promotion routine amped up by 100.  

        So, do you have a new book coming out and want to do something special to celebrate on release day? Consider having a release party event on Facebook and gather all your writer friends for a party/takeover. Let them take over the conversation for an hour or so and tell them to invite their friends. It's good karma because in the end not only does your new release get more exposure but you help your writer friends spread the word about their books at the same time. 

     

         What do you think? Have you ever participated in an Author Takeover? Tell me about your experience in the comments.

     

        PS... If you do decide to hold an Author Takeover or know someone that is, let me know! I'd love to participate. :-)  

A great place for authors to hold book events

     As many of you know I had a book signing this past weekend. This time around I thought a lot about where I wanted to hold my book signing. A bit of back story... I live in a very small town in Wisconsin where books tend to be less important than hunting or watching sports. I wanted to hold my book signing for Finding Elizabeth somewhere where I would get more exposure. To do that I knew I had to go to either Green Bay or Appleton.

     I had a few location ideas; libraries and a couple bookstores but because of my love for their store I put Half Price Books in Appleton, Wisconsin at the top of my list. This turned out to be one of the best decisions I've ever made so far in my publishing career.

     The woman that I spoke to to set up the book signing, Sarah, was extremely accomodating. I was afraid at first HPB would turn me down because I'm an indie author but they welcomed me with open arms; not only did they allow me to hold my book signing at the Appleton store but they day after I scheduled the book signing with them they had the information put up on their website.

      From there my book signing also showed up on the events calendar for several of the local news channels.

     I did my thing and put posters up in the area and ordered book marks to give out at the book signing then patiently waited for November 28th to arrive.

     Finally the day of the book signing arrived and I arrived about an hour early to get everything set up. When I arrived I was introduced to an employee named Sam who helped get everything set up. She and one of her coworkers set up the table next to the door and even brought a chair for my grandmother (who had tagged along) to sit on. HPB provided balloons and cookies and Sam brewed coffee which was set next to where I was sitting.

     I don't have one of those card readers so the store would have even made their old carbon machine available to me if I had needed it.

     At one o'clock, the start time of my book signing they made an announcement letting everyone in the store know about the event going on.

      I can honestly say I am so happy with everything Half Price Books did for my book signing. They went above and beyond anything I could have asked for. They were accomodating, friendly, and professional and I can't gush about them more.

     If you're an author looking for somewhere to hold a book signing/reading/event and you live in one of the 16 states where Half Price Books has a location I highly recommend contacting them and inquiring. You won't regret it!

     Again, a huge thank you to everyone at the Appleton Half Price Books! You guys are amazing and I am eternally grateful!

One Week To Go + Author Interviews

From my Author Website http://www.taylorfenner.com:

Hey everyone! It's the first day of May; do you know what that means? We're that much closer to summer! Ah, I can taste the s'mores and smell the sunblock already. 

Also, as of today we are EIGHT days until my book signing at the Living Room Coffee Shop in Clintonville, WI on May 9th. I'm getting more excited by the day and I hope all of you are looking forward to it too! It should be a great event. 

In preparation for the book signing I've placed posters in local libraries (as mentioned previously) and I'm pretty sure they're still posted in 2 of the 3 libraries. You might also have seen the articles about the book signing in the Shawano Leader, Clintonville Tribune-Gazette, and Marion Advertiser. I'd like to thank them for putting the articles in for me, they all looked great! 

So now all there is to do is sit back and wait until next Saturday. The books are here anxiously waiting to be claimed, my hair is newly touched up, and my nerves haven't kicked in yet. 

In other updates I've done a couple interviews for a few different blogs over the past two weeks. Two of them have posted already with three or four more to be posted within the next three months. Here are the links if you'd like to take a look:

Awesomegang Blog: http://awesomegang.com/taylor-fenner/

Book Reader Magazine: http://bookreadermagazine.com/featured-author-taylor-fenner/

The interviews are great ways to learn a little bit more about me and how my mind works. The "Awesomegang" one is a bit more in depth, but I hope you take a minute and check them both out! 

That's all I've got for this week. I'm in the midst of working on a chapter in Into the Light, the sequel to my upcoming novel Out of Darkness, and I'm really immersed in the story. I hope you have a great weekend, and a good week next week. I hope to see you a week from tomorrow!