Welcome Desiree Finkbeiner, author of Ethos: Morning Star. Let's start with a little about your book and its protagonist.
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| Desiree Finkbeiner |
He reveals to her an ancient prophecy that transcends time and the planes of existence, challenging her take on reality, and Brianna is thrust into a race for her life. With the balance of their worlds at stake, Kalen takes Brianna to his world, where he can better protect her.
During their perilous adventure, they find themselves facing the ultimate choice. They are tempted by forbidden love, knowing they can never be together, but it’s that same temptation that leads them to find their greatest strengths.
It’s a story about integrity, duty, agency and self mastery. My series is a call to action; to act or be acted upon. It’s about choice, the very thing that makes us superior beings… and the same element that can ultimately lead to destruction, if not exercised wisely.
On twitter: @finkart
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/finkartstudio
On Google+: https://plus.google.com/
I see you are an visual artist as well as a literary one. Is your blog exclusively for your writing? Do you use it to promote your art as well?
The blog is for art and writing. I've recently started to feature guest artists and authors, to let people know about their work. But I also use it as a sort of electronic journal to catalog my book promotions and art.
Your last blog posts have, of course, been about your blog tour. How did you establish that tour? Was there any cost involved?
Some from blogtour.org, some are featured on sites that belong to authors who are friends of mine, and some were blogs that I stumbled across at random. I contacted the blog authors, asking to trade a feature for a backlink and social media blast to my Facebook and twitter followers.
Some blogs cost me price of my ebook, so should they choose to leave a book review on amazon, it will be a verified review. Also, blog lists can be purchased online or found by following other author blog tours.
They existed long before my book, but obviously I have added a significant amount of promotion for my book there, and since my book release I've been blogging more actively.
Have you found any difficulties with your method of creating a website/blog? Do you have any advice? Mistakes newbies can hopefully avoid?
The best way to drive traffic to your site, is by featuring others and showcasing their talents. Not only will their followers visit your blog to see the feature, they just might take a moment to see what else you have on your blog. In my case, I have animated banner ads on every blog feature to advertise my book, so in a passive way I am getting my book into the eyes of new readers, without being pushy.
Also, always back link to others who feature you. It not only increases Google visibility, but other bloggers appreciate the effort to spread the word about their blog, so they are more likely to help you promote again in the future.
There needs to be give and take in all marketing. People who are only out there to self promote without giving back will come across as selfish and one-sided. You can only help yourself by helping others first.
Great advice! Thank you, Desiree. Ethos is the first book featured on the blog and I hope you'll come back when the next in the series is available.
Ethos is available from Hydra Publications and can be purchased on Amazon. Both Ethos and Desiree Finkbeiner are also on GoodReads.
