Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from my family to yours.

My interview with CAN

http://christianauthorsnetwork.com/tips-from-the-pros-leann-harris/ Please go over to the Christian author network and read my latest interview.

A Delay

I wanted to share with my readers that Book 3 in the Legacy of Lies series--Stolen Secrets will be out a little later than I planned--probably end of October. Book 3 of the Rodeo Heroes series with Love Inspired will be out the end of 2016. Why the delay? I've shared with you my cancer journey and I was feeling great, but in January of this year, strange things started to happen. A wire poked out of my scalp, so I went to a plastic surgeon. One of the screws holding the plate in place in my head (tumor ate away the bone) had broken off. I had that fixed, but other things started to happen. The plastic surgeon felt the edges of the plate curling up, so she sent me for a consultation. The long and short of it was, I saw the new doctor one day, and was in the hospital the following week. The plate was replaced and my scalp resectioned. I think I've lost my hair 5 times. (I really am not going for a record.) July was a lost month for me, so my schedule to finish the Indie book took a hit. I plan to spend August and September on Stolen Secrets. I promise I'll work as quickly as possible, but at this point, I can't push. Thank you to all who've written and followed my journey. I treasure your prayers.

Memorial Day

On this special day, I hope you will take time to remember all those who fought and gave their lives in defense of our country. When my children were in their late teens, the family visited DC and were there at Arlington Cemetery. It is a sobering experience. Both my parents and husband served in the Army and all came home, but my father is no longer with us. I'm proud of you, Dad.

The last picture is of my dad and uncle who met in Tokyo in the Korean War.

Radio interview

I'll be interview on Along Came a Writer blogtalk radio show from 1-1:30 PM on Thursday. Lena Nelson Dooley will interview me. www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.892985977411620&type=1

Carolyn Readers Choice winner

I am excited to announce my book, The Last Truth won the North Texas Reader's Choice award in the inspirational category.http://ntrwareaderschoiceaward.blogspot.com/

iRead Book Tour with Penny C. Sansevieri

I had the pleasure of asking Penny Sansevieri some questions about her book. 1. Penny, what is the best piece of advice you can give an author that he/she could do to boost their sales on Amazon? The biggest piece of the whole Amazon mystery is to understand that they are a search engine, not just a shopping site. When you look at Amazon in terms of the search engine components, like keywords - having the right ones and the right categories. This makes a huge difference and authors often think that their book should be in one category but in fact, belongs elsewhere. So you'll want to look around to see what's a better market for you. How do you know? Well first off the sales rank will tell you a lot. If you're sitting in a category with a bunch of books that have a high sales rank (the higher the rank, the less they are selling) this might not be the best place for your book to be because clearly, no one is really buying these books. Next your keywords - think keyword strings. Just like a search on Google we don't search with single keywords and you'd be amazed how often I see authors with just one keyword. Consumers don't search that way, instead consider keyword strings, like "romance and suspense" or something like that. It'll bring you far more traction! 2. If you have an Indie book on Amazon for a while, how can you generate more sales--create a buzz? I would look at the keywords and categories - that's the first place I'd turn to. So, what keywords are you using, what categories i​s​ your book in​?​ Are you using single keywords or keyword strings? Keyword strings, hands down is a better way to gain visibility on Amazon. 3. You speak of super fans, how do you build them? Literally you build super fans one fan at a time by doing things that make them feel engaged and involved and part of your world. Bring them in with eBook freebies or some other promotion and then communicate with them, get their feedback and insight, involve them in your world. Make them feel important. By doing this - making them feel important, you will potentially build fans for life. Also, sell less and communicate more. By this I mean that if you're trying to build super fans, don't sell to them. People are tired of being sold. They are already there because they bought something, now make them feel special. 4. Key word, you emphasize them, how do you build them? Well you start by doing searches on Amazon - so finding keywords that people (readers) are searching on to find your book. For example, consumers generally don't go into Google and just type in one keyword like "romance" and hope to find the exact right book they are looking for. They are more likely to type in something like: "romance and suspense" which helps narrow the market down considerably and turns in better search results and less for them to sift through. 5. How did you start helping writers sell their books? It's a funny story really - though it wasn't funny at the time. I'm sort of an accidental entrepreneur. I was let go of a job twice in one year. Once when I was working directly for the CEO and he was let go so a bunch of his support staff was also dismissed, then the 2nd time was a company I joined not long after that shuttered their doors. I decided to do some consulting till I could find a job, then consulting turned into marketing and marketing turned into teaching and writing books and now, here we are … 15 years later. 6. The book market is constantly changing, what do you see as a trend in the near future? That's a very good question… Well, one of the biggest trends I've authors collaborating on book bundles. We’ve already seen big-named bestselling authors are doing this as well. We saw this in 2014 with David Baldacci when he edited the book series FaceOff, I think we’re going to see a lot more of that. With all of the new books out there it will be important for authors with a strong following to help and support each other with combined books and perhaps even combining book tours. Thanks, Penny for your input and advise.

How to Sell Books by the Truckload--Questions and Answers.

Join me on May 12th where I ask Penny Sanseviere question about her book How to Sell Books by the Truckload. It should be and interesting day.

Goodreads giveaway

Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Rancher for Their Mom

by Leann Harris

Giveaway ends May 20, 2015.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to Win

What a Joy--Easter Morning.

Happy Easter to you. This is my favorite holiday. It is a time of hope. Everything has changed and new beginnings are possible. All is new and the old has been washed away. But at a cost. I hope you'll join me in my joy.

Finalist in the NTRWA

I got the news this week that The Last Truth made the finals of The Carolyn. I'm excited.

Spring flowers and Summer books

Snow was on the ground last week, but the flowers ignored it.

And this is book 2 of my series of Rodeo Heroes which will be out in June 2015.  I'm turning in book 3, which is Sawyer's story next week.

A Different Place

 Yesterday I blogged at Love Inspired Authors - www.loveinspiredauthors.com

Daffodils

My daffodils are up and saying Spring is coming.

70 Years

70 years ago today, Russian troops liberated Auschwitz. In our local newspaper, a survivor was on the front page. Marta was 10 years old when she was liberated.

When I was writing The Last Truth, my heroine's family was sent to different camps for hiding her father's partner, who was Jewish. Having to learn about each camp, know what was done, burdened my heart. I can only admire the survivors and those who lost their lives.

This is my tribute to you.