So, you’ve read a book, and you loved it.  What should you do now?  Well, that’s easy!  After a long exhale with a smile on your face, you should let the author know that you enjoyed his/her writing.  After all, a novel is a work of art that took countless hours to write, and in the end, almost all authors question themselves.  Sure, we know we have an amazing story to tell.  We wouldn’t put it out to the public if we didn’t believe in it.  But, we are also human, and deep within every one of us, there are times of doubt and confusion.  On a great day, we are excited about what we do.  On a bad day, we question our sanity and wonder why in the world we do what we do.  This is especially true for the more unknown authors, which is the majority of the market.

So, how do you speak to an author?  That’s simple.  Leave a review!  Leaving a positive review on Goodreads, Amazon, etc. is the best gift you can give to an author.  Those reviews are more important than you may know.  On Amazon, reviews push the author up in ranking, as well as help potential readers decide on whether to purchase the novel.  As for Goodreads, it’s all about potential readers deciding which book to read next.  They may have thousands of books on their ‘to read’ shelf, but in the end, most of them look at reviews to decide which one to actually read.

What I’ve learned so far, is that most readers don’t leave a review.  Yes, they may love the novel, follow the author on social media, tell all their friends to read the book, and even be kin to the author, but in the end, they don’t leave a review.

I’ve even heard a story about an author that gave out 500 advanced copies of her novel so that she could get reviews in before the book was published, yet not even half of the readers wrote a review.  Ouch!

I don’t blame the readers.  I, myself, never left a review until becoming an author.  I never knew how important they were until now.  Our society has just recently become dependent on reviews.  I mean, there’s not many purchases I make without looking at the reviews.  I even have a scan code on my phone to help me while at a store.

So, if you love a book, leave a review.  All the authors I know read their reviews.  They will get your message.  If you want to get even more personal, you can also see if the author is on social media.  Although some authors have other careers and don’t do much online, the majority of the authors I know are online, and they listen and respond to their readers.  You can find me on almost all the social platforms, but I am most active on Facebook.

Oh, while leaving a review on Goodreads, you can also become a fan of your favorite author.  Same goes for Amazon.  It only takes a second to click on the button.  It’s just another way to show your support to a writer you enjoy.

Although I said I’d never put those painful purple contacts back in, I procrastinated too long and had to quickly find a costume for this year’s party.  The good news is that the contacts did not hurt like they did in Las Vegas.  However, I lost complete vision in my left eye about thirty minutes into the party.  Everything became a total blur, so I took them off and went on with the fun of socializing with my neighbors.

My husband went as Willie from Duck Dynasty, and he tried to talk me into buying this ridiculously huge duck costume that looked beyond horrific.  He even begged, but that was never an option.

This will most likely be the last time I dress up as Alissia.  I don’t have the jewels she had, anyways, and I don’t compare anything to the description in the book.  I tried though, and it was fun.  I especially enjoyed it in Vegas when Melissa dressed as Anika, Alissia’s close friend.

I will say that I am very blessed to live in a new neighborhood where just about everyone knows each other, and we even like each other.  Parties and gatherings are always enjoyable where we live, and after moving around for most of my life, I believe I have found my home and am settling down.

I’m curious to know if anyone else has ever dressed as a character from a novel for a costume party.  If so, I’d love to hear about it in the comments section.  Dressing as Alissia is my first time, and it was fun.

My daughter believes in sideways shots.  Last year my husband and I dressed in Roman outfits.  My hair was so short back then, and Daryl needed to smile.  I think that was his first time dressing up since childhood.  He’s getting the hang of it now.

Interview by Brad Covey

Interview by Samantha LaFantasie

Interview by Vision and Verse

Coffee Chat with Author Ally Shields

Guest Post at Girl Talk with Gilda Evans

Guest Post on Samantha LaFantasie’s Blog

Unexpected Metamorphosis and Unexpected Entrapment is available online as a paperback and many forms of ebook at:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Smashwords

Also available on Itunes

Autographed paperbacks can be purchased through the publishing company via Paypal for $14.00, or $26.00 for two. That includes U.S. shipping and sales tax. Please be sure to list the name and address you would like your copy mailed to. Also, be sure to write whose name goes inside the book and any special message if you have a preference for what is to be written.

Who is Tianna Holley?  I am a wife, mother and author living outside of Atlanta, Georgia.  When I’m not writing, I love to bake with freshly ground wheat and travel to new places.   The fantasy genre has always been a favorite of mine, and you can see that by the books I read and the movies I watch. I can easily get lost in another world and spend an entire night reading until I’ve made it to the end, even at the cost of exhaustion the very next day. Some stories are just too hard to put down and walk away from.

After leaving my career as a paralegal over thirteen years ago, I have spent my time home schooling and caring for my children at home.  Call it a midlife crisis or my passion of writing has finally caught up with me, but I am now taking the leap of faith and doing what I love.  Reading has always been an escape for me, and now I have passionately fallen for writing.

I would love to hear feedback from each and every one of my readers, and I eagerly await your comments.

Are you an aspiring author with a work in progress?  Since becoming a published author, I have met many people filled with questions about publishing, writing, and marketing.  After many hours of research, classes and a conference, I am ready to share my knowledge with others.  Do I know everything  to know about being an author?  Of course not!  However, I wish that someone had given me all the information I now have a year before the release of Unexpected Metamorphosis.  A lot of my timing was off, and I had to learn a lot from trial and error.  I can save you some of the mistakes I’ve made. Having a book published is not all about writing.  There’s a lot of hard work and many hours that have to be spent in doing other things. I love to write, and I love to talk at speaking engagements.  Answering questions and helping other aspiring authors is somewhat a passion of mine.  The idea of using Skype to do an hour training session came to me one night, and I’m willing to test it out.  For $20 paid via PayPal, I will sit down and go over the following:

• Self-publishing vs. traditional
• ISBNs
• Building a platform/social media (FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, Amazon Author Page, Shellfari, Google+, etc.)
• How to use all of Goodreads as an author
• Giveaways (Goodreads, Rafflecopter, and Flash)
• Website
• What to expect at conferences and book signings
• Networking
• Marketing
• And most importantly, when to begin doing these things.  Timing is key and should begin way in advance of publication.

Be sure to have plenty of paper and pens handy, and the best part is you can ask me questions.  The  call is private and personal. If this is something you are interested in, please click on the contact button in the top menu.  I look forward to meeting you.

Many years ago I left my career as a paralegal in trying to slow down.  I had gotten off track and had begun to put my job before everything else, working weekends and missing children’s ball games.  My driven personality had gotten in the way, and I had gotten my priorities mixed up.

I thought staying at home would change things, and it did, for a while.  I started homeschooling my son, then I added some college classes to my schedule, had three more children, learned to bake from scratch using healthy ingredients, and so much more.  I did what most stay-at-home mothers do, I put my family first, but with my extreme personality, I somehow lost myself along the way.

Some people think homeschooling means a life of solitude and unsocialized children.  Well, not so.  There are many classes and groups that support homeschoolers, and since my children got finished with school early, they could participate in all kinds of sports activities.  Eventually, my schedule was crammed with children’s activities, school, and hosting parties.  My life was crazy and hectic, and although children are rewarding, they don’t exactly tell you they are grateful at the end of each day.

I eventually burned out.  My stress level was high, and my weight went below 100 pounds (can’t eat when stressed).  During the process, I found myself in writing, which is strange and not something I predicted.  It just happened.  Now my children go to public school, and I focus on my writing career most days.  However, I continuously have to remind myself to walk away from my to-do list without feeling guilty.  Same goes for my writing, especially this month with NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) coming up.  Although I’m not participating in this, I’m surrounded by authors that are, and I see the posts and tweets.  Everyone is getting ready to go extreme, while I’m telling myself to settle down and take time to enjoy my hot tea.

While I am focused on writing the second novel in the Alissia Roswell series, marketing, public speaking, and all the things that go along with being an author, I am also taking time for myself and my family.  I’m trying to find that balance I think we all search for, and I believe it’s working.  I’m gaining the weight, which always comes with happiness.  (Thankfully, my daughter can wear the jeans I’ve had to pull from my closet.)  I’m also coming along on the second novel without staying up into the wee hours of the night.

If you find that you can’t keep up with yourself, I urge you to take a look at your life and see what you can drop.  Don’t wait until you crash and burn.  Pull back on the reigns and dump some of the load.  Enjoy life before it’s too late.  Sit back and read a book.  (I happen to know of a great one.)