Meet Our 2021 ROSACon Speakers: Ashleigh Giannoccaro

Bestselling author Ashleigh Giannoccaro writes edgy dark romance and erotic horror, self-published by choice she writes the stories others don’t dare. Currently residing in Johannesburg, South Africa with her two daughters and a menagerie of pets, Ashleigh enjoys writing stories that make you fall in love with the unlovable and leaves you asking questions. When not writing she can be found with her Kindle in a sunny spot reading or taking long walks to nowhere.

Don't miss her presentation BookTok for Authors at ROSACon 2021! Book your tickets today! 

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Meet Our 2021 ROSACon Speakers: Tamryn Iyer

 

Tamryn Iyer is a graduate in Social Sciences from Rhodes University. She’s experienced working as an intern at a rape crisis centre – handling social media and doing empowerment talks.

She worked as an English teacher (educational rockstar) in Vietnam and is part of the Global Shapers Community (a division of the World Economic Forum) and more specifically, the Durban Hub.

Her time and energy is devoted to her startup, Impact17. Impact17 is a startup that utilizes social media as a tool of empowerment and facilitator of social change. From helping an entrepreneur launch their brand through Instagram to working with organizations and giving them content direction, she enjoys the ever-changing interwebs and how we can make the best use of it!

She’s passionate about three fields: CULTURE, ENTREPRENEURSHIP and TRAVEL. 

Don't miss her presentation DIY Social Media for Authors at ROSACon 2021! Book your tickets today! 

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Being part of it: the online writing community

Source

You have friends in every corner of the world; people as diverse as the places in which they live. You all have one thing in common: a love of writing.

Look up #WritingCommunity on Twitter and you’ll see the big picture: writers, writers everywhere! All talking about their writing, or prevaricating about writing or shouting about their books or even sometimes ‘shamelessly promoting someone else’.

It’s a big pond to play in.

But scale it down. Find a quieter corner.

What I want to share with you is my experience of belonging to a community; of gathering a group of online writing friends around you and of sharing encouragement and support.

I hang out in a small corner of the blogosphere via the wordpress platform. If you want to know about the technicalities, there’s plenty of ‘how to’ info out there on the interweb.

Way back in 2012 I set up my blogsite, purely as somewhere to store the short stories I’d written. Then, two years ago, when I started working from home doing social media stuff for a handful of clients and concentrating seriously on writing novels, as a bit of light relief, I began posting flash fiction pieces on the site.

I was pretty amazed that people took the time to read and comment… and say nice things. Suddenly I began to have a following.

And so I reciprocated. I read other people’s posts on the wordpress reader and commented on them. Before long, we had become a little community. We often write to prompt posted by someone else: a photo or a random word. We all come back and share. It’s become a virtual writing group.

Not everyone in our group aspires to be a published writer. Some do, some already are. Some just write for fun (well, I guess we all do that). Some post more frequently than others. People dip in and dip out like in any group. But there’s a hard core of folk who are always there, those I could sit down and share a coffee and a chat with, the ones I call my ‘virtual’ friends.

Within a year, I’d acquired many, many more contacts. The blog is linked to Twitter and LinkedIn, Facebook and, more recently, to Instagram. It provides me with a springboard to launch my work, and I’m selling an increasing number of my books as a result. However for me, it’s the participation and support of my virtual writing group that’s most important.

Writers are such nice people, aren’t they?

Join the Twitterati like a Boss. Top Author Hashtags to Start Using Today

Twitter is an amazing platform for interacting with other writers, staying on top of industry happenings, connecting with readers and grabbing once of a lifetime opportunities - like pitching to agents! Carina Press, for example, held #CarinaPitch on 18 April 2018 for the second year running and gave authors the chance of a lifetime to pitch their WIPs in no more than 2 tweets! Can you really afford to miss out on that??

The main thing you need to know about Twitter (and Instagram) is that the # is EVERYTHING. Post without using it, and you may as well be a tree in the forest that falls.

Follow your icons, friends and other people of interest to you and you’ll find that it’s not a passive platform like Facebook, it’s lively and often very educational.

So, back to the hashtag - include them in your tweets and watch your followers grow.

What are Hashtags used for anyway?

• Indexing emotions (#Vague #SorryNotSorry)
• Identifying a Brand (#Oakley)
• Recommending a Product (#BestRead)
• Connecting with like-minded people (#WriterLife)
• Finding Experts (#AskAgent)

Example of a Tweet:

When you are researching sex toys...for work! #AmWritingRomance #WriterLife

Use these #’s to find your tribe and connect with other writers:

#AmWriting

#AmEditing

#WordCount

#WriterWednesday (or #WW)

#WritersLife

#AmWritingRomance

#IndieAuthors

#WriteChat

#NaNoWriMo

Connect by book genre, this case romance:

#Romance

#RomanceWriter

#RWA

Looking for or giving advice?

#WritingTip

#WriteTip

#GetPublished

#BookMarket

#BookMarketing

#PromoTip

#SelfPublishing

#SelfPub

#Publishing

#AskAgent

#AskAuthor

#AskEditor

Connect with Readers

#FridayReads
#BookGiveaway
#MustRead
#LitChat
#StoryFriday
#MustRead
#TeaserTues
#BookGiveaway
#FreeBook
#FreeDownload
#Kindle
#Nook

So what are you waiting for?

Cindi Page is a Digital Marketer by day at wordofmouthct.co.za and a romance writer by night.
She shares her business tips and #writerlife #entrepreneurlife on Twitter as @1stTruLove

Some local romance writers on Twitter:

@romy_s ‏
@RaeRivers1                                         

@DorothyEwels
@ColletteKellyZA
@ThereseBeharrie 
@EricaTayor
@EdenWalking
@DaniReneAuthor

Your Facebook Book Launch Step by Step

Welcome to 2017, where you don’t need to give people people cupcakes and wine and hold thumbs that they will buy your novel at your book launch. You can successfully launch your book online with a Facebook event. It’s easy, inexpensive and has tremendous reach.

Who participates?

Your readers / target audience and fellow authors in your genre (exhaust all your contacts, don’t hold back. Remember, if you don’t ask, the answer is the same as a ‘No’.).

What’s in it for you?

You reach wa-aay more people (hundreds, possibly thousands), with more meaningful interactions than you ever could with an in - person launch. It’s also costs next to nothing to pull off. You can be creative. Just pretend you’re already a best selling author, and you’re ready to rock.

What will it cost?

Although you will not be spending money on wine, snacks, a venue, an outfit, transport, a photographer and giving away paper versions of your book - you will be investing your time in preparing for the event and time on the day. Don’t worry, you can do it in your PJs and slippers if you want to, no problem.

What’s in it for the guests?

Not only do your readers (and fellow authors) get to chat online in a live Q&A (I like the game: ‘Ask the Author Anything’), there will also be books (digital) given away - and who can resist a free book?? Some authors give away paperbacks / signed copies / other swag / Amazon gift cards - it’s all up to the author. The best giveaways are the ones where it’s simple, but with a kickback for you, the author. For example: If you like my Facebook page or sign up to my newsletter (insert links for convenience) I’ll send you a free digital copy of my book!

Step 1: Prepare a media kit for your book (*= required)

• Cover images *
• Blurb *
• Teasers (best done with images and excerpts from the book - use Canva.com)  *
• Video trailer
• Author bio *
• Excerpts of reviews / bloggger comments *
• Anything else you can brag about like other press coverage

Step 2: Create a Facebook Event

• Create an event on FB from your FB author page about 2 weeks before the event date.
• Set a date and time (this can be a couple of hours in a particular day or it run for a few days, that depends on you). Keep time zones in mind.
• Use Canva.com to create stunning artwork for your event cover / banner.
• Write a decent description of  your event. Say it is a launch, explain how it will work (See Step 3). Include all your social media links/ handles etc.
• Make sure the settings allow for invited guests to invite others. The more the merrier.
• Invite as many people as you know.

Step 3: Line up the “entertainment”

• Ask fellow authors in your genre to share the stage with you and promote their work.This is great because it’s generous and helps build a sense of community. You can decide on criteria like only authors who have released a book in a last year if you want to.
• Decide on how long their timeslot will be and on which day.
• Make a schedule and stick to it. Remember to give yourself a timeslots too!
• Get them to confirm their participation and send them reminders.
• Suggest some ideas to them and recommend they get a media kit ready (see Step 1).
• The idea is that they will keep the momentum going on your event page by introducing themselves, sharing excerpts and reviews of their book, take part in live Q&A and do a giveaway / run a competition. Sometimes this means that you have to get the ball rolling by asking the first question or being the first to comment.

Step 4: Leading up to the event

• Finalise that schedule.
• Promote / tell people about the event.
• Boost your event by paying FB a small sum of money to reach even more people. This will cast the audience net even wider, which is what you want.
• Prepare your giveaways / competition criteria.

Step 5: On the day / days

• Make yourself available to introduce the authors participating.
• Have some questions prepared in case the audience is slow.
• Be positive and upbeat.
• Make sure whatever is happening is relevant, interesting and engaging. Varying the content with live video/ music videos / recorded videos / images and soon will really help.
• Promote your book!
• Ask for Follows / LIKES and Subscribers
• Engage with your audience.
• Give of yourself and be yourself - that’s the whole point.
• Ask a friend or two to LIVE Tweet your event with hashtag.
• Share images on Instagram / status updates of what’s happening on your event page on your FB author page.

Why not participate in our very own ROSA member, Erica Taylor’s Facebook Book Launch for her debut novel, A Suitable Affair? Invite all your romance lovin’ friends too!

©Cindi Page 2017

Cindi Page is a digital marketer by day and romance novelist by night. She Indie-published her first novel, A Piece of My Heart, in 2016 and her second and third books are due for release late 2017. Connect: cindipage.com /@1stTruLove /FB: cindi page author / wordofmouthct.co.za/ cindi@cindipage.com

Conference Report: Tristan Banha's talk on Social Media

Thank you to author Rebecca Crowley for her report on Tristan Banha's talk on Social Media & Branding at #ROSACon2014.

Report by Rebecca Crowley

On Saturday afternoon ROSACon welcomed Tristan Banha, the founder of The Juice Box social media agency who’s recently joined the Chat Factory, where his clients include Joburg Theatre, Peugeot South Africa and the Smile Foundation. The Chat Factory is a social agency looking after social media publicity, strategy and account management.

Tristan began with a presentation emphasizing the constant growth in social media use. In South Africa specifically Instagram and YouTube are the fastest growing, while Facebook remains South Africa’s biggest social network.

Addressing Facebook in particular, Tristan said writers must have a fan page. He described Facebook as a “coffee shop”, a virtual place for mingling and sharing, which means it’s essential to divide the personal from the professional. An author-specific fan page provides this barrier, as well as helps authors target their engagement without blurring the lines between professional and more general social interaction.

When it comes to maximizing Facebook interaction, Tristan’s first tip was to ensure your content is mobile friendly, as 78% of South Africans access Facebook via their phones. He then explained the essential difference between being seen and being noticed. Achieving a high number of ‘Likes’ on a post constitutes being seen, but doesn’t necessarily suggest that the viewers will take that click any further (ie buy a book!). Being noticed, Tristan clarified, is better illustrated through an exchange of comments, as that shows engagement with the product (from the viewer’s side) and with the target audience (from the author’s side).

Tristan moved on from the nuances of Facebook to the overarching ways authors can maximize social media to engage with and generate new readers. Broadening from the “being seen v. being noticed” point, he suggested asking questions or crowdsourcing – getting input from audiences on Facebook or Twitter for character names or setting details, for instance – as a way to get readers involved with books or works in progress. The key follow-up step is to acknowledge the comments generated by these questions and interact with the readers who ask them, as that’s what secures their engagement and moves the interaction from seen to noticed.

Tristan described social media as a “community conversation” and encouraged authors to make use of it as such. He emphasized the use of hashtags on Twitter to help people join in the conversation, as they may search on those as keywords, and will expand the scope of the conversation from existing followers to potential new ones.

Overall, Tristan underlined that social media works best when the community provides the content and the author responds to it in an engaged, interactive way. Social media has the potential to massively grow an author’s exposure internationally and exponentially.

Tristan Banha and Rebecca Crowley at #ROSACon2014