Hopping, Hunting and Partying! An Author's Advantage

Hi everyone--
I hope you got to participate in the Men of May Blog Hop this weekend and in the amazing Cinco de Mayo Party that thirteen of us threw at The Romance Studio. Both events were great fun and, from an author's point of view, great promo.

Why do author's participate in Blog Hops? Blog Hops are one of the easiest and most fun ways to get exposed to new readers. (Easiest, that is, unless you're running the Hop!) The principal of a Hop, in case you have been hiding out, is that a group of authors sign up and each posts the Hop symbol on their blog, lists a prize for commenters on the blog, and posts the other authors in the Hop so people can visit all of them. The great thing is that other authors readers will participate and they get to see your site just as your readers get exposed to other books and authors. It's always best to give a generic prize at a Hop (like a gift card) in case people have read all your books or don't think they want to read them at all. Why is a hop easy? You post a fun blog and leave it. The readers do the rest. You can check in from time to time to say hi, but on Hops readers don't necessarily expect replies so a Hop is a great way to have your blog churning with activity while you are off writing your new book!Here are upcoming Blog Hops on this site!


The Romance Reviews Erotic Romance Madness Hop --May 10-14 right here on this blog. This one will be HUGE and extremely FUN!

Hop Against Homophobia -- May 17th - 20th -- A lot of great authors banding together for a wonderful cause. Do Not Miss It! Over 220 authors.


Blog Hunts are similar to Blog Hops -- just a bit more mysterious. A Hunt usually has some special badge or information that the participant has to find when visiting the authors' blogs or websites. It's fun, more complex than a Hop, and sometimes has even bigger prizes.For the author, preparation may be a little more complicated but during the hunt the author just sits back and enjoys!  Night Owl Reviews runs some really fun hunts. A fantastic Hunt coming up on this blog is listed below:

Romantica Scavenger Hunt--May 25-27 -- On this Hunt, participants will receive not only prizes but also exclusive content from the authors--bits you have never seen before. I will be hosting another authors content and someone else will have mine. Plus, there will be "mystery letters" that must be found. Winners will get a big bunch of great books plus all the individual prizes.

Parties are another great way for an author to meet new people and chat a little. The Romance Studio has the very best Party Site on earth where participating authors can post little mini-blogs of content--whether book excerpts, recipes, fun facts, all the things you might do in a blog-- and post them many times during the party time. Sometimes parties are one day like our Cinco de Mayo Party and sometimes like the one coming up on May 26th, they are multi-day parties. This Anniversary Party will be 6 days!! Don't miss it. Parties, if the author does them right, are more complicated than a Hop but less taxing than a chat. The authors can post as many times as they want to on their own schedule but it's good to show up often. Go to http://trsparties.com

Do you get the feeling that this blog is going to be blazing with activity in May?  You are right. Show up on almost any day and you'll find exciting events! Hope to see you HERE!  Then on June 1st, we start the Blog Tour for Beach Balls!  And don't forget to sign up for my newsletter in the upper right hand column of this blog. I'll be letting you know about all the fun. Thank you for coming by! : )