Title Card by Alison Hunt
In early April, I’m aiming to release War of Nytefall: Loyalty. This is my newest series that focuses on the vampires of Windemere. It’s strange starting from scratch again and I have no idea if established readers will follow me here. All I can do is promote and hope for the best.
Of course, I need to set up a blog tour of some sort. So, I’m going to see if anyone wants to lend a hand. There are going to be two categories for this:
- I can send an HTML copy of the ‘Book is Live’ post that I’ll put on here. This is simple, but I’ll admit that it doesn’t really garner a lot of comments and traffic outside of my own blog. Still, if you want to help and can’t think of anything for #2 then this is the way to go.
- A personalized post for your blog on a topic that we can discuss below. These might take a few extra days to write and get out, but they can create a lot of comments and traffic. A lot of this depends on how my son’s Spring Break goes, but I might have more me time than I realized during that period.
Hopefully, this new series starts off with a big bang and can reach the same levels as Legends of Windemere. It’s going to be a tough trick since it’s much more competitive on the Amazon lists and books just don’t sell like they used to. Here’s hoping a strong blog tour will pave the way.
Legends of Windemere 
I’ll be happy to help.
Do you ever write poems connected to your story? I ask as an idea for number two. I write poems myself, and sometimes share them, and they tend to be popular with my blog readers. I mean, I don’t have dozens of people commenting on my posts as a rule, but the couple of people who comment a lot are usually more likely to comment on my poems than my book release announcements, so… *shrugs* It’s an idea. Let me know what you think.
Otherwise, if you have another idea, I’ll be happy to work with you on that. Or, if we can’t come up with anything that we agree might work, and you have time to work on, I’ll volunteer for number one.
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I do occasional poems for my stories, but only for my blog. I gave one about the Dawn Fangs from a week or two ago. What were you thinking with the poems? Just one or several?
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I thought you did, but wasn’t sure if I was remembering right…
How many depends… I can do a couple of posts if you want to keep attention on your books for a bit longer. Basically, I was thinking one or two.
My thought was that we’d post the poem at the top of the post… To grab the attention… Then go on to post something that says how it’s based on this book, and if you like the sound of the book it can be purchased in the places you can provide links for, and finish the post with your author details. It’s just an idea that came to mind when I was thinking of something different to do instead of the usual “buy this book” posts, but wanting to also make it something that might grab the interest of my blog readers.
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I’ll have to think about it. The poem I already did covers the main plot without spoilers, so I’m not sure if I can come up with a second or third one.
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No problem. If you can’t, but can think of something else that might work on my blog… Like if there’s something we can do with an animal character, if there is one… Shoot me an eMail and we can discuss it. Otherwise, as I said, I’ll be happy to put an announcement post up for you at least.
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Sadly, no animal characters here. Didn’t really fit with the vampires. I’ll see if I can think of anything.
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Just thinking. Would you want the poem I already did with the blurb?
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Thought that was probably the case regarding animal characters. The whole vampire thing is tricky to work cuddly animals in to.
Regarding using the poem you already wrote: that could work. Most of my readers probably didn’t see it when you posted it on your blog, so it would still be new to them.
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Okay. I can send that and attach the blurb, sales info, and social media stuff to it. Short and simple might work.
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If nothing else, at least we can say we tried something different. Plus, if I post it the Wednesday after you release, I can put it as my “Writer Wednesday” post, which may also help increase traffic (those posts don’t always get many comments – though the chances of comments tend to be better if a poem is involved – but they do get a lot of views, according to my stats).
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Awesome. It might look a little odd with a poem and blurb, but I think that might be fairly eye-catching.
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That’s my hope…
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Count me in. I can do either. How about the top ten things not to do with a vampire?
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I like it. 😁
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Want me to write it and then you edit? Since I’m such a novice if you could give me ten traits of your vampires then I wouldn’t slip into something not true or not in your book as I develop the list. I would also dedicate the time to the usual Top Ten Monday for the whole day.
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I think I’d rather be the one to write it. Feels weird having someone else write the promo and I only edit. Keep thinking it should be the other way around. One of the challenges with the Dawn Fangs is that there is a lot of nuance in there, especially with the characters. Do you want me to follow your formula? I could do a 7 list for another day too.
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A seven list is more like you. Do a seven and then if you want to do a ten in formula then I run two of them.
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I’ll see what I can do. I’ll start at 7 and see if I can extend it to 10. It’s the at best, at worst, and one Tiny mention, right? 😁
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Right. 😀
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Count me in, Charles. Whatever you come up with will be fine with me. If you would like an opposite top ten – i.e. ten things to do with a vampire – shoot.
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Opposing posts. I like that idea. I’ll even note that you and John have opposing posts to help you guys get more traffic.
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Great. I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
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Thanks. I’m hoping for the weekend of April 7th. Right after my son’s busy break.
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Count me in, Charles – the second option would be great – we all know the strengths and weaknesses of Vampires, so maybe a post on what calms or relaxes them (apart from a good meal 😄) – Music, knitting, painting, etc 😎
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It’s funny because I have a post at some point in April that has the Nytefall characters talking about what they miss about being mortal. I can do something similar to that, but with more meat to it.
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Yum 👍😃
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I’d love to help…and I’m happy with whatever you’d like to do. Character interviews are always fun. 😀
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Thanks. I’ll see if I can think of a topic. Used up a lot for my own blog. The only rough part with character interviews is that they take a lot of back and forth.
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I have a form that I use with my spotlights for character interviews. You can choose the questions you want to use and write it up that way if you want. That makes it a bit easier.
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Okay. So, it’s going to be the character asking questions? Does it have to be the main one or could it be a fun supporting character?
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No, you answer the questions from the character’s POV, and it can be any character you like. I’ll give you the URL for the form so you can have a look. If you want you can choose some of the questions and write it out as though the interviewer is having an actual conversation with the character. And you can add your own questions as well if you think of something readers might be interested in about the character. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdZ-vqJMqJW_1G7CcdXu0k6ePscHaoqi2BqvxiDIl4tRqQ7qQ/viewform
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Thanks. I’ll fill it out after the book comes out. Honestly, I think a supporting character that I didn’t consider before would work great with the questions since he’s the only one with a blood relative in the story.
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No problem! Do you have my email to send the rest of the info and images you’d like included?
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Doesn’t look like I do. Although, I see a gmail one in my blog comments section.
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Well, here it is, just in case: reneescatts@gmail.com
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Thanks.
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Count me in, Charles. Maybe some backstory or an excerpt might be a good way to go, but whatever works best for you.
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Backstory is always good. Though I might lean more towards an excerpt. Those tend to do better.
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Whatever you prefer.
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I’m just getting around to all the blogs I missed over the weekend. I’m up for anything. I’ll make Lisa available, I can post something for you, whatever you want.
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Awesome. I was going to talk to you about a Lisa interview next week once I get a few things off my plate. That and I’m not sure if I should go with Clyde, Mab, or Gregorio. All three have their charms.
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How do you feel about the second week of April? Or we can do something special.
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Second week should work as long as everything continues running smoothly.
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Happy to offer you a guest spot on my blog Charles if you contact me.
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Thanks. What kind of post would you like? The regular one or a specialized?
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I’d be up for this! I’d probably want to go for a character interview if you’d be okay with that.
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Unfortunately, I don’t know when I’ll have the time. I’m doing one for Lisa Burton Radio, but we planned that a few weeks back. Right now, I’m getting maybe a day or two of rest between projects, so back and forths will be really delayed.
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Completely understandable. Whatever kind of post you’d want to send my way, here.
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I’ll see what I can figure out. I used a lot of topics for my blog, so it’s becoming a head scratcher. You’d think vampires would be easier to find topics on.
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Whatever you choose 🙂
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Thanks. I did have an idea about the challenge of writing vampire stories due to preconceived ideas and preferences.
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Looking forward to it 🙂
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