After the Love is Gone: A BWWM Romance

Here is the latest release from Author Sandra Nicole:

 Allison Walker is a newly divorced single mom who is finally getting a second chance at life after having to spend five years in a shelter to escape her abusive ex-husband, Ray Callahan. Allison is looking forward to starting over, and buys a new home with hopes of finally being reunited with her sixteen year old daughter Hannah Walker. Hannah has been living with Allison's best friend Rayna Jordan and her husband Charles. Allison's dreams of a fresh start are shattered when her ex-husband Ray, somehow finds out where she lives and works. Allison has no clue that he has found her, since she was promised by the shelter where she stayed, that there would be no chance of Ray ever finding her. When Allison finds love in Ryan Hendrickson, Ray's anger only intensifies, and Allison finds herself in a cross between the man of her dreams, and the man of her nightmares. Will Allison get the life of happiness that she deserves with her new love, Ryan; or will her old flame, Ray, cause her to forfeit any chance at love?

Click here to download your copy from Amazon.com.

The Love Of A Mann: A BWWM Romance

Author Sandra Nicole has released a new story, "The Love of a Mann: A BWWM Romance. The story is available now on Amazon. You can click here to download your copy now.

Waking up to a strange man in her bathroom was enough motivation for Raya Gamble to finally make a lifestyle change. She was a woman in search of love, but all she seemed to attract were men who only wanted her for one thing. So she makes a deal with herself that she was no longer going to wake up next to a man she barely knew. Xavier Mann is already in a relationship with the woman who he believes to be the love of his life, only to have her snatched away from him tragically. Just when Raya was ready to give up on love, she meets the gorgeously handsome Xavier. But love doesn't come easy for either of them, as Raya struggles to overcome the demons from her past, and Xavier struggles with trying to heal from the loss of the woman he thought he was going to marry, and doubts if he can even bring himself to love another woman. Their love for classic cars will unknowingly be the catalyst that draws the two of them together; but will it be enough to actually build a relationship on and keep them together? Will Raya and Xavier get their perfect love story after all? Or will their past relationships hinder them from living happily ever after.

Book Marketing: Why Every Author Needs A Marketing And Promotional Strat...

How to build a basic marketing funnel to grow your email list

Having a marketing funnel is the secret weapon many bestselling authors use to sell more books. In this video, I share how to build a basic marketing funnel.

Three Ways to Make Money With Your Blog

If you want to know how to make money blogging, then this post is for you. 

There are many people who have come to believe that just because they put up a blog, that they will automatically make money from it. 

The truth is, the money does not come from the blog alone. Simply putting words on a page will not magically create an income for you. 

There are however, ways that money can be made as a result of blogging.  In this post, I am going to tell you some of the ways that utilizing the power of blogging can add to your income. 

First off, in case you don't know my story, I started blogging in 2008; grew my blog to a nice sized audience, and then quit because I, like many others, didn't really understand how to monetize my blog. I thought that just by writing and posting random content, that I would crack the code to earning a living as a full-time blogger. 

Here is what I did not know: before money can be made online, or even offline for that matter, you need to have two things present: traffic and a buying audience. 

Traffic consists of the people who are going to come to your site. You don't just want a bunch of random people coming to your site with no intentions of spending a dime; instead, you want people who are actually looking for whatever it is that you happen to be selling. People who are ready to spend money and buy something.

Your site must offer a solution to the site visitor if you want them to stick around long enough to even see what you have to offer in the form of a solution for them. Not having traffic and readers to your blog or to your website, it like having a beautiful storefront that nobody knows exists. 

Traffic comes from a variety of sources. There are free and paid sources of traffic. Your job as the blogger is to get as much qualified traffic from these sources to come to your blog.

I mean, let's face it; one visitor to your blog is not going to be enough traffic to write home about. You want to get your posts in front of as many people as possible, every single day. 

Not only do you need to send good traffic to your blog, but you also want to find a way to turn those site visitors into customers.

The best way to turn those visitors into customers is to get them on your email list.

The email list is one of the most effective ways to get to the money with a blog.

Your blog is really a marketing tool that you use to help you get in front of customers who are interested in what you have to sell. They come to your blog, read your blog posts, and hopefully, make the transition from just a visitor to your site, to being upgraded to a new customer. This is what I call a buying audience.

But let's get back to the traffic. With the right kind and amount of traffic, you can become a source where people come to gain exposure.

There are three ways that a blogger can use their traffic to earn money with their blog. They are affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, and actually selling ads on their blogs.

1. Affiliate Marketing: This is where a blogger is paid to promote other people's content via a website or blog, in exchange for a commission. This is favorable in that you don't have to come up with anything of your own to sell, and oftentimes, the marketer will give you tools to help drive more traffic to your blog so that you can more easily monetize your traffic.

2. Write a Sponsored Post: Sometimes a company may approach you to write one post promoting a particular product or service in exchange for a set fee. This is especially good for someone who has a niche audience.

3. Sell advertising on your blog: You can rent out space by the month on your blog in exchange for a monthly fee. Some bloggers have space in the sides of their blogs that they allow to be purchased by advertisers. Bloggers who have a newsletter that they promote via their blog rent space in their newsletters to advertisers as well.

Money can be made as a result of blogging, but the blog itself is often not the source of income. Hopefully that makes sense because it took a minute for me to get it as well... sigh.

There are three things you need to focus on if you goal is to use your blog as a marketing tool. While earning money is definitely something to look forward to, you need to focus on these three things first:

Focus on getting targeted traffic to your blog

Focus on building a targeted and engaged email list.

Focus on monetization techniques after you have built up the first two.

If you want to get started blogging, get the blueprint that can help you launch your own profitable blog. Download it now.

New Release: Shoulda Known Better

Do you like to read urban short stories? Well, Sandra Peoples has penned one that is destined to keep you on your toes.

Jamaica McGee meets the man of her dreams during her freshman college orientation. 
That man is Derrick Lewis, a handsome man who seems to have it all together. Then things quickly spiral out of control when Jamaica decides that she wants Derrick to be 'her first'. 
No sooner than she gives Derrick her special gift, Jamaica finds out that she may not be the only girl in Derrick's life after all, when another girl calls his phone. 
Not only that, but Derrick may be hiding more than just another woman from her. 
As the lies and secrets start to unfold, Jamaica finds herself at a crossroads between the man she loves and saving her own life.
Download this short urban fiction story today from Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/25GRfzh

Publish Your Book This Summer

Do something exciting this summer!

Get started on your journey towards becoming a published author this summer!

Get all of the details and start your own journey today! Get started with Sandra!

How To Sell More Books Online

Here's How To Sell More Books Online

One of the best pieces of advice that I have heard in order to sell more books online is about to be revealed right here on this blog post.

But first, a little spiel....

A big hello to everyone who has been following this blog.
I had taken a hiatus for a while, built a new blog and some other things.
But I am back now and ready to get back to promoting authors and entrepreneurs.
That was my little spiel about where I've been.

I get a lot of questions from authors wanting to know how to sell more books online.

In order sell more books online it is a good thing to diversify the sites where your books can be found.

What do I mean by that?

Make your books available for sale on more than one site.

While there are some authors who have experiences massive sales by offering their books exclusively on Amazon through their Kindle Unlimited Program, I am not one to put all of my eggs in one basket.

For instance, Authors who sold their books exclusively on Amazon through the KDP Unlimited Program were probably hurt by the recent changes made to the way they pay their authors who use the program.

Your book should be available on more than one platform because even though it may seem as though the whole world using Amazon to shop, there is still a number of people who do not.

People who have Apple products will more than likely shop in the Apple store first.

Then there are those who have Nooks who shop on Barnes and Noble's site.

Why wouldn't you want to expose your books to those readers?

You don't have to manually submit your book to each site individually,

You can use a site called Smashwords to make the process of making your ebooks available for sale on other sites much easier.

Publishing with them allows for your book to be sold on many other platforms, such as the Apple Store and Scribd.

They don't require you to sell your books through them exclusively.

Authors should also have digital versions of their own books for sale on their own sites.

I believe that every author should have their own website or blog, and that you should have your books available for purchase there as well.

It is never a good idea to rely on someone else to exclusively handle your product because things can change in an instant.

One minute a business can be booming.

But blink, and it could very well be out of business.

On my business blog, I sell books there as a PDF.

Most smartphones can open a PDF, so, all you need is a PDF and a PayPal account to get the ball rolling with your own book sales from your website.

I have a Wordpress.org blog, and use plugins to make the delivery of the PDF much easier for me.

But, if you don't have Wordpress.org, there are still ways that this can be done.

In order to sell your books from your own website, your focus has to be on getting traffic, readers and building a list.

This way has more work involved, but, it allows you to be in control of your sales and promotion.

Look at it this way.

You are a business owner.

Your books are your product.

So, why wouldn't you want to get people to come to your business (your website or blog) to purchase their product?

Authors have to get proactive with their books and stop just putting their books up on a website and riding off the traffic.

Be sure to check back here for more information on building your author website, your following and your income.

Until next time,

P.S, If you liked this post, be sure to share it.
To get more tips and strategies on how to build your career as an author, click here

Add This Book To Your Success Library: Steve Harvey's Book, "Act Like A Success, Think Like A Success"

Do you have a Success Library? If You Do, Then Steve Harvey's book, "Act Like A Success, Think Like A Success" Should Be On The Shelf.

I am always on the look out for books that can help me to play a bigger game in both business and life.

I think that every entrepreneur should have a success library full of books that they can use to help keep them motivated and inspired in this walk of being our own bosses.

I understand that there are many people who want success, but don't want to do those things that will cause success to come to them.

In reading Steve Harvey's book, Act Like a Success, Think Like a Success: Discovering Your Gift and the Way to Life's Riches I was blown away by his wisdom and the story of how he arrived at where he is today. He lets you know that he was not always the success we see on television and read about in his books.

He had to start somewhere.

Many people never, ever start.

They will talk about starting, but they will never put one foot in front of the other and start.

One of the biggest things I got from this book is to not be afraid to ask.

It is so important that you understand this.

You know, we are often taught that we should not ask so many questions, or that there are certain things that we should not ask for.

Not asking for help when you need it could be the difference between your success or failure.

Think about it: how many times have you needed help with something but were afraid to ask for help because you did not want people to think that you were dumb, or surprised that you didn't know the answer already?

(Am I the only person raising my hand???)

Or, how many times were you in need of finances for one reason or another, but did not ask because you did not want people to know that you needed money?

Closed mouths don't get fed.

Never be afraid to ask for what you need.

The bible even tells us that we 'have not because we ask not.'

Another thing I learned is that you have to prioritize and plan for success.

What are you doing to show the universe that you are ready for success to come your way?

One thing I have learned from studying the habits of successful people is that they are not lovers of sleep. They take power naps, but they don't sleep.

The rapper T.I. said in one of his songs that he will sleep when he is buried.

When being a success becomes a priority in your life, you will not love sleep anymore either.

Successful people start their days earlier than most others--some as early as 3:15 am!

I have kids, so I have to work in a few hours of rest where I can.

But I don't love sleep.

In fact, right now as I type this, it is 1:29 am , eastern standard time.

I have to get up at 7 am for church.

And I will.

I can't imagine sleeping an entire day when there is so much work to be done in my business!

You need to set goals, and plan for your success.

If you don't plan, you will fail.

So, I encourage you today to purchase your copy of Act Like a Success, Think Like a Success: Discovering Your Gift and the Way to Life's Riches. It will change your life.

Until next time,

Meet Fantasy Author T.C. Southwell

This month's featured author is T.C Southwell, author of "The Queen's Blade: Book 1".

Bio

T. C. Southwell was born in Sri Lanka and moved to the Seychelles when she was a baby. She spent her formative years exploring the islands – mostly alone. Naturally, her imagination flourished and she developed a keen love of other worlds. The family travelled through Europe and Africa and, after the death of her father, settled in South Africa.

T. C. Southwell has written over thirty fantasy and science fiction novels, as well as five screenplays. Her hobbies include motorcycling, horse riding and art, and she is now a full-time writer.

Excerpt:

In the time of Shamsara, Idol of the Beasts, on the world of Chasym, favoured of the great god Tinsharon, Queen Minna-Satu, beloved of the Jashimari, took power upon her mother’s deathbed. Tashi-Mansa, Elder Queen of the Jashimari, died two days later from the poison she had taken, and was duly interred within the royal tomb. On the day of her coronation, Minna-Satu stood upon the Plinth of Power and declared herself sworn to her people and the Endless War. Her declaration, however, proved different from those who had gone before her, for she vowed to bring an end to the eternal conflict.

Of the vast crowd that cheered and celebrated her ascension, many went away muttering darkly of her vow, unable to envision a world without war, an economy unspurred by the dark trades of death and weaponry. The Jashimari and the desert people of the Cotti had been at war for eight generations at least, some said longer, and none could remember its beginning or the reason for it. All that was known was that each successive queen was sworn to continue it, and every boy who reached manhood must fight in it, save those of high rank. Now their young Queen, daughter of the long line of queens who had upheld the honour of their people, had vowed to end it.

The seasoned warriors gathered before the golden palace to witness the new Queen’s pledge raised their white-plumed spears in salute, and the populace beyond their ranks roared in adulation, as if her words had not reached them. In truth, the day’s celebrations, the music, marching, chanting and priestly exhortations to the faithful, brushed this oddity from most people’s minds much as a spider web is swept from its dusty corner by a housewife’s broom. Some, with more ordered minds, noted it, wondered at it, and filed it away, while others wrote it down in texts and records. A few penned it on notes that swift, feathered messengers flew across the land, into the hands of the enemy king.

Upon receiving the first of these messages, King Shandor of the Cotti laughed uproariously and handed it to his eldest son. Prince Kerrion read it and tossed it aside, his countenance unlightened by levity. Shandor shook his head, still chuckling, and gazed at the sea of armoured warriors that surrounded his desert camp, an unstoppable tide of brawn marching inexorably towards the mountains that guarded Jashimari lands. There they would hurl themselves against the defenders’ ramparts in waves of bloody combat in the time-honoured way.

Thus, with Queen Minna-Satu’s declaration, began a time that would be remembered always. A time of sorrow and pain, of struggle and sacrifice; a time that would be named after the man who brought it about: the time of the Queen’s Blade.

Free download link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/33966

Contact T.C. Southwell

Email: fantasyauthor21@gmail.com

Website: http://www.tcsouthwellbooks.com/ 

Blog: http://tcsouthwell.blogspot.com/  

Would you like to be a featured author here on 'Meet The Author'. Click here to get all the details.

Until next time,