Monthly Archive for August, 2011

Find New Followers in the Twitter Hopalong and Learn New Tips

Published on August 31, 2011 in General News. 98 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Welcome to the Twitter Hopalong, part of Twitter Week on my blog. First, if you’d like some Twitter tips, be sure to check out these earlier posts:

5 Easy Steps to Managing Twitter
How Authors Can Maximize Twitter to Promote Book Sales

Next, if you’d like to add some new Twitter followers and do some networking, please join the Twitter Hopalong. Here are the instructions:

1. Leave a clickable link to your Twitter address in the comments along with a few words about what you tend to tweet about most. Please note that leaving your Twitter name (for example, @stacyjuba) is not good enough. You need to leave your direct Twitter link so readers can easily click on it to follow. You can get this by going to your home page on Twitter and clicking on the number of tweets you’ve made, under your name. Paste the URL that appears in your browser. Mine is http://twitter.com/stacyjuba. Update – I’m going to ask people to take one extra step and use a URL shortener such as TinyUrl as 95 percent of the longer URLs were not clickable when posted and it has been a lot of work fixing them. If you absolutely don’t know how to use a URL shortener, don’t panic – I’ll see it and will fix it, but your best bet would be to make it a shortened URL before posting so that no one skips over you in the meantime.

2. Follow whoever is above you in the comments. To ensure that they follow you back, it might be helpful to send them a tweet that you’re following from the Twitter Hopalong.

3. Comments are open for 14 days. Bookmark this page and come back to follow people who posted after you. (hopefully some of them will have found you on Twitter already.) Alternatively, you can subscribe to the comments and follow people as they post here.

4. Please post some kind of tweet so we can bring in new followers from all of our networks to extend this event’s reach to the furthest potential, something such as RT@stacyjuba, Join the Hop for new followers and #Twitter management tips. http://ow.ly/6ieBI #socialmedia

That’s it! I hope you find the above articles helpful and that you make some new contacts in the Twitter Hopalong!

How Authors Can Maximize Twitter to Promote Book Sales

Published on August 30, 2011 in General News. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Welcome to Day 2 of Twitter Week on my blog. Yesterday’s post discussed 5 Easy Steps to Managing Twitter. Today, Lenore Holditch has a wonderful post about using Twitter to promote book sales, though even if you’re not an author, you can still apply these tips to your own niche. Be sure to come back this week for the Twitter Hop, where you can find new friends and contacts. Below is Lenore’s post.

Once long ago, all a writer had to know what to do was, well, write. Now authors have to sometimes be their own marketers. An easy and free way to promote both you and your work, however, is to simply use social media platforms like Twitter. To learn how to maximize its potential, continue reading below.

Create a Following base. While this is the first step, it is often the most difficult for authors who just have started using the Twitter platform. If you are a well-known author, most likely fans will do all the hard work and request to follow you; however if you are newbie, you might very well have to get your hands dirty and forage for some followers on your own instead. An easy way to do this is to pay attention to “trends” and “hash tags”—if you are a murder mystery author and a trending topic is appropriately titled murder mystery geeks, this would be an excellent opportunity to click on the trend and see who is posting about the topic. You can then read a couple of posts and pick and choose which accounts seem as though they might be interested in your work.

You might even type in some key words in the search bar and see what or who pops up and request to follow them accordingly. Since you will be adding strangers, it’s imperative that you don’t come off as a spammer and truly explain who you are and what you do in the bio portion of your Twitter account. Otherwise your request will be rejected in an instant. Acquiring a good following base is hard work and may take some time, but it is definitely worth it in the end. Note that your Twitter following count can be used as tangible proof that you actually have fans which may convince publishers to give you the ok for your next book deal when/if the time comes.

Connect with Fans. Once you have a few followers, it’s important that you engage with them to make your presence known, especially following the weeks before and after your book release. This is not to say that you should annoyingly flood your followers’ time line with excessive tweets—about 5 or 6 tweets spread throughout the day should suffice. But you should definitely try to interact with your audience by answering an occasional direct tweet and/or re-tweeting some of your followers’ posts. It’s equally important that your personal tweets are not only clear and concise (you have a 140 character limit) but that they are meaningful and informative as well without sounding like a walking talking advertisement. For example if you are on a book tour, a tweet casually saying “Hello Houston! Come check me out at the Galleria Barnes and Noble at 2″ should work quite well.

Be Creative in Your Approach. While tweeting informational subjects is good, you also want to find creative ways to make your audience excited about your new book release so that they will rush to the store and purchase it. There is no better way to do this than by having your audience involved even in the preliminary stages of your work. This means that if you are struggling coming up with character names or possible scenes for example, don’t be afraid to ask your audience for some suggestions and/or feedback. After all, they are your fans and they know what they like/don’t like. When your book is almost in the finishing stages, you might even want to consider posting small excerpts as a teaser mechanism to get your audience interested. Other options may include hosting chat forums via Twitter after your book is published. For example, you can tweet to your fans that you will be answering any questions regarding your latest work between the hours of noon and 1 p.m. You can even host contests. For example, you can say “whoever answers this question correctly first” or “whoever is the first person to re-tweet this post” will receive a prize, like a free autographed copy for your newest book. Don’t forget to use twit-pics as well. Here, you can post photos of your book’s artwork or take photos of you at work.

This guest contribution was submitted by Lenore Holditch, who specializes in writing about top online colleges. Questions and comments can be sent to: holditch.lenore @ gmail.com.

5 Easy Steps to Managing Twitter

Published on August 29, 2011 in General News. 12 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Last year at this time, I hated Twitter, but now I love it. It has become my favorite social network. Through Twitter, I’ve found new readers for my books, met bloggers, reviewers and interviewers who featured my books, kept up on news in my areas of interest, and just met some all around nice people.

Using Twitter takes some trial and error to get used to it, however, and that’s why I’m hosting Twitter Week on my blog. Today, I’ll share 5 tips to make navigating Twitter easier and more efficient. On Tuesday, Lenore Holditch will share a guest post on Twitter for Authors. And on Wednesday, I’ll host a two-week Twitter Hop where you can find new followers and make some connections.

Here are my 5 tips:

1. Sort the people you follow into lists. For example, I have lists grouped by authors/writers, book bloggers, mom bloggers, and reality TV, to name a few. It’s easy. On your Twitter home page, go to your list of followers that you’d like to follow back. Click the box to the right of the Follow button. You’ll see an option for New List. Create as many lists as you want. As soon as you click the follow button for a new contact, be sure to visit your list box and select the list you want the person to appear on – if it’s someone who shares an interest with you and you’d like to keep better track of their tweets.

2. Use a Twitter management tool such as Hootsuite or Tweet Deck. Personally, I love Hootsuite. Remember those lists we just talked about? On Twitter itself, all the posts are just grouped into one big mess. But with a tool like Hootsuite, you can set up your dashboard into categories. I have separate columns set up for most of my lists so I can see at a glance what my author friends are tweeting about, what book bloggers are posting lately, what’s going on with reality TV, and what my mom blogger friends are up to. This makes it much easier to reweet posts, and retweeting someone’s posts can lead to a Twitter friendship where you both help one another get the word out. I also have a column set up for my mentions – that way, if anyone is talking to @stacyjuba, I can be sure to thank them or respond. I can also monitor my Facebook and Linked In newsfeeds from Hootsuite and update my status on those social networks. Hootsuite also has a built-in URL shortener, which is crucial due to Twitter’s character limitations. You can even find out how many people click your links. Did I mention that I love Hootsuite?

3. Follow Friday Helper - Until recently, I never participated in Follow Friday (a networking day where Twitter users recommend followers to other users.) I just never had the time to look up people’s Twitter names and cut and paste them into my status update, as much as I wanted to acknowledge them. I’m so glad that I recently came across this neat site, Follow Friday Helper, which shows you a filtered list of users you interact with on Twitter. You can then write more personal #TY, #Gratitude, #FollowFriday (..etc) tweets using the user’s name, URL, bio and location with just a few clicks. This is a wonderful way to interact on Twitter and thanks to this site, it’s super-easy.

4. Use a tool to unfollow Twitter users who aren’t following you back. Every month, I use Just Unfollow to clear out most of the people who didn’t follow me back. It also identifies users who have been inactive with Twitter. If someone hasn’t posted a tweet in six months, maybe it’s time to let them go. Why spend time unfollowing people? First, I want to keep my news streams as uncluttered and focused as possible. In addition, once you are following 2000 people, Twitter sets limits on how many additional people you can follow at one time, limits which are based on the number of people following you. There’s no sense wasting follows on people who don’t follow back or who have stopped using Twitter. You can also check out Friend or Follow.

5. Check out Social Oomph for more tools. Many of these Twitter sites have redundant services, but there are two tools that I use from SocialOomph. First, you can set up an automatic welcome direct message for new followers. Second, you can track key words and have emails sent to you reporting on these words. For example, I track my name and book titles so I know who is talking about my books on Twitter. That way, I can learn about new reviews I can add to my web site, thank someone, and possibly strike up a conversation or find a new contact for future books.

Those are my 5 favorite Twitter tips. Don’t forget to come back this week for more Twitter tips and the Twitter Hop. Have you tried any of the above strategies? Can you think of more tips to recommend? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Amazon Gift Card Contest for Newsletter Subscribers

Published on August 11, 2011 in General News. 7 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

UPDATE – The winner of this contest has been chosen via Random.Org and the Amazon card sent out. Thank you to everyone for entering and subscribing – as a subscriber, you will be automatically entered in future drawings. Hope you enjoy the newsletter!

I’ve launched a new newsletter, folding my Yahoo version as I found that Yahoo is popular with writers but not readers. I think you’ll like this new format, hosted by TinyLetter. I’m not a fan myself of monthly author newsletters, so I’ll just send mine out to subscribers 3 times per year. You’ll also receive a welcome message when you join, filled with my latest book news. Sign-up by Sept. 15 to be entered in a drawing for a $10 Amazon gift card.

The newsletter will be filled with book release news, excerpts, discounts and special offers for subscribers only, and occasional $5 Amazon drawings. I promise that your e-mail address will not be shared. I’m also going to check in with my author friends to see what free downloads they might have available or would like to offer, so that I can pass on that information to my readers in future issues. To sign up and enter for that first $10 Amazon contest, all you have to do is fill out the box below and you’ll also receive a confirmation email. Hope to see you there!

Enter your email address:

A TinyLetter Email Newsletter

Thanks to www.cashnetsweepstakes.com, www.contestbeat.com, www.contestguide.com, www.online-sweepstakes.com, Contest for Moms, www.giveaway scout.com,The Sweepstakes Wire, Lucky Contests and Contest Hound (see below) for helping to promote the contest.



Behind the Scenes With Hollywood Stylist to the Stars Jeni Elizabeth

Published on August 8, 2011 in General News. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

As readers of my mystery/romantic suspense novels know, my heroines are young women embarking on their careers and finding the right path in life. Kris from Twenty-Five Years Ago Today is a determined newspaper reporter and Cassidy from Sink or Swim is a personal trainer striving to launch a chain of fitness centers. Since I often write about women chasing their career dreams, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to interview my guest Jeni Elizabeth, who is living her dreams in real life.

This Celebrity and Television Stylist has over seven years of experience working with some of Hollywood’s most glamorous starlets including Carrie Underwood, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Holly Madison, Gwyneth Paltrow, and many more. With an education from FIT in Fashion Merchandising, Marketing and Design, and references such as working with Michael Palladino at the renowned Henri Bendel in NYC for three years heading the Women’s Department, Jeni has earned her spot on the Best Dressed list. She truly has a knack for personal style and an eye for fashion that can make anyone’s wardrobe worthy of the Red Carpet. Read on for my exclusive interview with Jeni about fashion, behind-the-scenes, in Hollywood.

What prompted you to switch from your original goal of communications/journalism into a fashion-merchandising career?
I always knew that I wanted to work in fashion. I began thinking that I wanted to write and teach children about trends and styles. It wasn’t until I spent some time studying that I knew I wanted to be more hands-on and actually create fashion with my hands and not my words. I like to think now I have combined both, by not only working as a stylist but also writing my blogs and articles. It’s the best of both worlds!

What did your job at Henri Bendel entail?
A day in the life of Henri Bendel is the most amazing fabulous thing anyone could ever ask for. A perfect day would entail helping someone like Victoria Beckham choose the perfect sweater for her night with David. Organizing shelves to look as glamorous as possible and making sure my staff was covered with smiles and happiness. They were long days, but they were fabulous days! I was responsible for essentially managing a whole floor of sales and staff, and I was never happier!

What made you decide to take the plunge into moving to LA and becoming an independent stylist?
I was absolutely ready for a change. I had a connection into network through my sister who works in reality television. I decided that it was time to take my show on the road and see if I could hang with the big dogs in TV. I knew that the majority of my clients I had worked with at Bendels lived in LA, so I just hoped that things would work out…and they did!

How is this the perfect career for you? If you look back at your interests and hobbies in childhood and/or as a teenager, do you see any parallels to what you’re doing now?
This is the perfect career for me because I get to be myself, have fun, express myself through clothing and style and I also get to travel on the road with people I love to death! When I look back at myself to childhood and see all the outfits and crazy ensembles I would come up with everyday to wear to school, it makes me smile. It reminds me that I loved having fun with clothes even when I was a kid and had no idea what was going on! I was always very into sports, very much a team player, and I like to think the people I work with make a team still, a team that I love!

What is a typical week or month like for you?
My typical week or month depends on if I am on a show and on the road or if I am working with a client on an individual project outside of TV. This can mean anything from packing suitcases to pulling individual gowns and suits for an award show or appearance. I also have about 10 bags with me, and hundreds of tear sheets everywhere…. I absolutely need to work on my organizational skills!!!! As much as I love being home and settled, it is rare, and there is something to be said about being on the road or with a client and as crazy as things get, the satisfaction of seeing the end glamorous result of a show, or an event makes it all worth it!

Do you work primarily as a stylist for celebrities on an independent basis for when they’re going to big events, etc; in choosing wardrobes for movies and TV shows; or a combination of both?
I think it is fair to say that my time is very well split. It depends on what time of year it is and what is going on. I could be working on a new season for a show, and at the same time its award season which gets a little fuzzy and crazy. I never have a schedule. A new show could be pitched to me that I love and I want to do, and while I am there a client has a book launch, or an independent project they are working on and I try to “double-dip” as much as I can! I try to never leave a friend or a client “high and dry”!

What are some of the tasks you do as an independent stylist? Take us behind the scenes a bit – what type of places do you visit to shop for the clothes? If you’re on a set, where do you work out of? Do they give you an office, or is there a big wardrobe room where they store the clothes?
On a day-to-day basis I visit every kind of store from a mall to a boutique vintage shop. I love combining new amazing trends with old vintage pieces. If I am stuck on a set the majority of time we have a trailer that I will work out of, that is usually stock piled with every color and every size of everything I love and think will look amazing! If god forbid there is not a trailer, my car sometimes looks similar to a shopping cart! On any given day one can find a pair of Spanx in my dashboard to legwarmers on the floor and gowns draped over my back seat! Whatever makes it work I get it done!

How do you know what is the right look for a certain celebrity or character? Is there a certain instinct you’ve developed?
I don’t think there is ever a certain instinct that becomes a general. I feel very strongly that every person I work with is different and every person should be able to express their personality through their clothing. I try very hard to never put in a client in something that they absolutely hate or feel uncomfortable it. With that said, I think everyone has his or her very own “right look” and my job is to build on it and make it more glamorous. I love taking the time to get to know my client, or read about them so that I feel as though I know them and in turn am not creating a look that is completely opposite of their personality.

What are some of your favorite fashion trends right now?
My favorite thing in the world is bringing back certain trends from years past. I loved that this years runways was full of 70’s looks that I believe made the world a better place! I am loving bell bottoms (and the fact that as well as skinnies are not gone, perhaps they may get a break) I am loving colored furs and sheer everywhere! I can never get enough of the stripes and bold accessories as well! I am a pretty happy girl this season with a blue and white striped shirt, a pair of J Brand bell-bottom jeans and a faux red fur jacket…I LOVE IT!

What have been some of your most recent projects?
I just finished working on two reality television projects with 495 Productions, Nail Files for TV Guide Network and Love Handles for Lifetime. I am currently working on the set of Jersey Shore while at the same time getting ready for the VMA’s coming up and a very exciting project I have started with Much Love Charity! There is never a dull moment!

Are there any web site or social networking addresses you want to share, such as Twitter?
I absolutely love Twitter! At first I thought I would hate it! A friend of mine set me up and he showed me how to use it and now I feel like I have become addicted to it! My twitter account is @Jeni_Elizabeth – follow me, it’s fun! I can of course be found on Facebook and my webpage is currently being designed as we speak to be amazing!

Thanks for joining us, Jeni, and wishing you much success in the future!

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