Allie Potts

That’s a wrap

December 22, 2013 by Allie P., posted in Book Stuff and Publishing News

There is a good chance that I may have forgotten a person or two on my shopping list, but I believe I may just be done with my holiday shopping, and I hope that I helped 5 others finish theirs a well.

For the past month I have been running a giveaway contest on goodreads.com. 5 copies of my book were up for grabs. The contest ended in the wee hours of this morning and the lucky five winners were chosen completely at random out of 822 entrants.

Looking at the results, I was happy to see that the book’s synopsis appealed to people across the country. Hopefully the rest of the book will appeal as well.

Getting on the Shelf

December 18, 2013December 18, 2013 by Allie P., posted in Book Stuff and Publishing News, Indie book promotion, Life as I know it

Up until now, my strategy with regards to book sales had been nearly completely focused on electronic sales. I had heard so many stories about how difficult it was for the self-published author to get shelf space within the traditional brick and mortar store that it just wasn’t an avenue that I thought would be worth my time to pursue. Besides, I positively adore my e-reader, it is the wave of the future right???

Well e-readers may still be the wave of the future, but the feedback I received from the working mothers I met at the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce (or other online poll results) is anything to go on, I did need to give brick and mortar a second chance.

Luckily my neck of the woods boasts one of state’s, if not nation’s top independent book stores, Quail Ridge Books and Music.

Rather than being blown off, I was invited to sit by the fireplace and pitch my story while I was told about their impressive history, and their fierce independent spirit. As a result I am thrilled to report that by the end of the week, my novel, An Uncertain Faith, will be rubbing bookends with other local authors in their Southern Fiction section.

This store is also known for their numerous author events, so getting on their packed calendar is going to be a goal for 2014.

Poll Shows That 75% Prefer Printed Books To eBooks (slashdot.feedsportal.com)
Video didn’t really kill the Radio Star – Will Ebooks kill Print? (nwharrisbooks.wordpress.com)
Digital or Print for the Indie/Self-Publisher (beinganauthor.wordpress.com)
Study: 70 Percent Of Consumers Tied To Print, Most eBooks Are Never Read (denver.cbslocal.com)
‘Independent Bookstores Are Not Dead’: Indie Book Shoppers on the Rise (rinf.com)
Independent bookstores capture headlines in 2013 (csmonitor.com)

Fact: women are more successful self-published authors

December 16, 2013 by Allie P., posted in Life as I know it

As a female self-published author, I feel that it is my duty to reblog this article.

Belinda Williams

According to the recent Taleist survey of self-published writers, women authors are more successful than men.

Does this fact surprise you? It surprised me – not because I lack faith in my female counterparts (far from it), but because when you compare it to the traditional book publishing industry, it’s the men who dominate.

A good example of the situation women face in the traditional publishing world is documented by VIDA. They decided to count the reviews in a number of important literary publications and it revealed that male writers were up to 413% more likely to be reviewed than female writers in publications like The New York Review of Books, The Atlantic, Paris Review, The New Yorker, London Review of Books, Harper’s Magazine.

Forget publishers, I’m going it alone…

Before you make any final decisions, you may want to consider the cold, hard facts. While the traditional publishing world may not be the…

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Celebrating my first peer review

December 11, 2013 by Allie P., posted in Book Stuff and Publishing News

To say that I was a little nervous when my book was first published would be a bit of an understatement. Not only were my friends and family going to read it, but so were random strangers who might not have my same sense of humor, or pick up on sarcasm in the manner in which I intended. So it was with some trepidation when another blogger and fellow author indicated that she would be willing to write a review.

Well I am happy to report that the review is in and while it might have been nice to see a five star rating, I am extremely satisfied with the four star rating. I rarely give anything a five star rating myself and with her constructive criticism in mind, I can only hope to grow and improve. I want to eventually be great at this after all – not just good, and no one gets there if they aren’t challenged.

I am entering the final days of a book giveaway on goodreads.com. If interested, you can enter directly from this site on my events page. I hope that the winners from that event enjoy An Uncertain Faith too.

Giving more than Tuesday

December 9, 2013 by Allie P., posted in Life as I know it

Recently I heard a comment on TV about how Giving Tuesday, a day designed to bring awareness to non-profits and charitable giving, could have been possibly scheduled for a day other than within the week of rabid consumerism that is the week after Thanksgiving, if for no other reason than people would have more disposable cash to donate. While I believe this is a fair concern, I was very pleased to read that more than a few people found a way to balance the Black Friday shopping for themselves with helping others.

Provided you have funds, it is easy to write a check on a single day of the year. Its quite harder to keep up the momentum throughout the rest of the year. Did you know that there is an organization devoted to promoting random acts of kindness throughout the year, but especially in Feb (RAK Week 2014 is Feb 11 – 17). I like this organization because many of the random acts of kindness ideas are suggested by young kids who are giving back just because it is the right thing to do and not only to make their resumes look stronger.

This year, shortly before Thanksgiving, my husband and I wanted to introduce our older son to volunteerism. We were participating in one of the many Stop Hunger Now meal preparation events. We had explained about how there are people in the world not as fortunate as he was, but when it was time to head out, he decided he would much rather stay with his Nana. At first I was a little disheartened – I thought that perhaps that our message had been lost. When I returned though I was pleased to find out that he had made a point of raiding his Nana’s pantry for a canned food donation. Obviously his effort hadn’t feed thousands, but I like to think that he made a difference for one family and sometimes that is all that you can hope for. Small acts of kindness throughout the year really do add up.

Another thing I am trying to do this season is change some of my habits for the better. Yes, New Year’s Day is still weeks away, but I am better off laying the groundwork for my resolutions now rather then the evening before. More than a few years ago, I heard of an alternative search engine, associated with Yahoo that donated to your select charity (mine is the SPCA) every time you searched called www.goodsearch.com. I am always searching online for something or another – it could be a nice start.