Interview with Jo Linsdell, Author of How to be Twittertastic

Jo Linsdell is  a best selling author and illustrator and internationally recognized marketing expert. She is also the founder and organizer of the annual online event "Promo Day" (www.PromoDay.info) and the Writers and Authors blog (http://WritersAndAuthors.blogspot.com). To find out more about Jo and her projects visit her website www.JoLinsdell.com.

What is your book about?

How to be Twittertastic is a writers and authors guide to the social media site Twitter. It covers a bit of everything from how to set up your account and personalise your profile to third party apps and getting the most leverage out of your tweets. It's also packed full of useful resources to help you make the most out of time and marketing efforts.

How long had the idea of your book been developing before you began to write the book?

I got the idea for the Writers and Authors Guide to Social Media series a while ago but as I was working on illustrating some children's picture books for clients and was also busy publishing a children's picture story book of my own (The Box) and so I didn't have time to develop the idea right away. 

A couple of months ago I decided that Twitter would be the topic of the first book in the series as it's the site I use that gains the best results. As soon as I had some free time I started brainstorming and plotting out a rough table of contents. It didn't take me long to know what I wanted to write.

What inspired you to write this particular book?

I'm a real social media junky and often get asked by other authors for tips on how to market their books online and build their author brand. When you have a passion that also happens to be in high demand it makes it easy to get inspired. 

This whole series is designed around the idea of making social media easy for authors to understand and to supply them with information and tips to help them get the most out of their time and efforts.

Social media is used by billions of people worldwide on a daily basis. Our audience is online and can be reached free of charge without us even having to leave our homes. Authors need to be taking advantage of this opportunity to connect with their readers and build their fan base. A lot of authors aren't using it because they don't know where to start. Others are using it but not making the most of it. I hope this series will help them build their online presence and give them some ideas for what and how to post.

How long did it take you to write your book?

A couple of weeks. The book is a quick read. I didn't want to keep repeating the same things over and over (I've seen others do that to bulk out a book and found it very annoying) and to be honest, there is only so much you can write about Twitter. The site is designed around the idea of clutter free, to the point, content. I wanted the book to be the same. 

Did you do any research for the book? If so, how did you do it? (searching Internet, magazines, other books, etc.)

I researched online using Twitter search to find examples to use in the book, and Google to find statistics, etc... As social media is one of my hobbies as well as a tool I use daily for marketing, I was already quite up to date on most of the details. I've also done several webinars on the topic and so already had a lot of notes to work from.

Who designed the cover?

I designed and made it myself using Adobe Illustrator. 

Where is the book available to purchase?

How to be Twittertastic is currently available in kindle format on all Amazon sites and will be out in print later this month.

Release date: 1st July 2014

Product Details: Kindle
File Size: 2191 KB
Print Length: 94 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00LFFRYEE


Purchasing links:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LFFRYEE 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LFFRYEE
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00LFFRYEE
http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00LFFRYEE

Facebook event page: 
https://www.facebook.com/events/657184934375734/


Social Media Links:
Facebook
Twitter
Google+
LinkedIn 
YouTube
Goodreads
Amazon 

Guest Blogger: Juggling Family and Career by Jo Linsdell, Author of Virtual Book Tours: Effective Online Book Promotion from the Comfort of Your own Home

Virtual Book Tours are a great way to create a buzz for a new release or to put life back into an older publication. In this book I'll take you through everything you need to know to be able to set up and carry out a successful virtual book tour.

The book is divided into 4 main sections for easy navigation:

1) What is a Virtual Book Tour?
2) How to organise your own tour
3) Promoting a tour
4) Useful resources

You'll find it packed with links, tips, and advice to help make your tour a hit.


Product Details:

File Size: 384 KB
Print Length: 83 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B00ELNAQ92
Text-to-Speech: Enabled

Purchasing links:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ELNAQ92 (Kindle)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Virtual-Book-Tours-Effective-ebook/dp/B00ELNAQ92 (Kindle)

http://www.amazon.ca/Virtual-Book-Tours-Effective-ebook/dp/B00ELNAQ92 (Kindle)

Goodreads link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18340947-virtual-book-tours

Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/events/428511413928514

Author website: http://www.JoLinsdell.com

Juggling Family and Career by Jo Linsdell

Being a writer is a pretty glamorous life right? You wake up relaxed and full of energy. Inspiration bursting out of you. You get to sit around all day drinking tea and the words just flow out of you on to your computer. Once the manuscript is finished, of course the first draft is already perfect and so there's no need to waste time editing, it's off to be published and available to your millions of fans in the matter of days. With the hard work out of the way you can now enjoy the many celebrity events and concentrate on which interview offers you're going to agree to do. Ah yes, being a writer is wonderful....

Sadly that's not quite how my days tend to unfold. Here's a brief summary of what happens on a typical day:

7 am (or earlier): Get woken up by 2-year-old son jumping on me and calling out "mamma." Try to convince him to have a snuggle so I have a minute to wake up properly. Fail miserably as he's already asking for breakfast and pulling me out of bed. Before I even manage to stand up, 5-year-old son has joined us and is asking for breakfast too.

8am: Kids have eaten breakfast, been dressed, teeth brushed, hair done, etc... and are ready for playschool/school. Time to put on shoes and out the door we go.

8:02am: Back indoors because we forgot something. School run take two.

8:45am: Home. Time to have a cup of tea and breakfast. Try to tidy up kitchen whilst kettle boils. Put load in the washing machine, and make beds.

9:30am: House now looks less like a bomb site. Turn computer on. Quick check of social media sites. Reply to all notifications and messages. Check have at least some content programmed for posting during the week. Next check blogs and schedule posts. Feel a bit more organised and eat chocolate bar to celebrate.

11am: Those books/articles aren't going to write themselves. Put on some music to motivate and inspire and open files. Doing well but get sidetracked when realise needed to buy stuff,make appointments, etc. for kids. Make mental note of shopping list whilst hanging washing out. Inspiration strikes and run back to computer.

12 noon: Starting to feel hungry but have too much on to do list and so eat more chocolate. Manage to tick off a few blog posts, record a quick video for YouTube, and send out queries for guest posts and blog interviews.

12:30pm: Time to collect 2-year-old from playschool. Quick stop at the park on way home to play on swings and slides. Son falls over and goes into panic that will need to go to hospital... again. Luckily nothing serious and can go home.

1:30pm: Time for lunch. 2-year-old has eaten at playschool but is still hungry. Prepare lunch for self, him, and hubby. Then put 2-year-old down for a nap as very tried and starting to act up. Need to lay down in bed with him until he falls asleep, as refuses to go to bed by himself. Once asleep, peel self out of bed without waking him and return to computer to get some more work done.

3pm: 2-year-old now awake again and full of energy. Put on Peppa pig, give juice and snack, and cross fingers that will keep him busy. Need to finish this part of text before forget what was writing.

3:30pm: With difficulty finish writing piece whilst 2-year-old mistakes me for a climbing frame. manage to remove child from around neck and get ready to collect 5-year-old from school.

4:45pm: Back home again and kids are demanding food and drink. Check school diary and mark important dates on calendar. 5-year-old announces that needs yet another book/stationary for school and so add to to-do list for tomorrow. Chat about school day and play games.

5:30pm: Kids looking tired and so put on cartoons so they can chill. Take advantage of quiet time to check in on social media sites, make some posts, reply to comments, and share some posts from newsfeeds.

6pm: Kids fighting on sofa. Time out for both. Peace made and after a quick game together both happy again. They then start asking when dinner will be ready. Time to cook.

7:30pm: Dinner eaten. Prepare bath for kids and get them in PJ's.

8:15pm: Prepare warm milk for boys and we read a story together as they drink it. Love being snuggled up together and remember how much I love being a mum.

8:30pm: 5-year-old in bed. 2-year-old refusing to go to bed. Take laptop to bed with me and try to get some more work done. Up and down about every 5 minutes putting 2-year-old back to bed.

9:30pm: 2-year-old has finally caved in and is asleep in his bed. Almost time to do a radio interview. Prepare notes and feel thankful that people can only hear me and not see me as looking far from glamorous.

10pm: Go live on air for radio interview. Have fun chatting with host and feel good about self and book.

11pm: Embed recording of radio interview on website and share link on social media sites. Feedback is good and so enthusiastically write up to do list for tomorrow. Ah yes, tomorrow will be amazing. Buzzing and can't get to sleep so write some notes with ideas for new books and blog posts.

12 midnight Why am I still awake? Force self to put laptop and notepad away and turn light off. Think through tomorrow's to-do list and slowly drift off to sleep knowing that yet another late night will make tomorrow's wake up call even harder.

I love my family and I love my job. Both keep me VERY busy. One of the great things about being a writer, though, is that I have the flexibility to be with my family and work around them. I write when I can and

thanks to the internet can market my books without leaving my house. I work late nights because I love my job and, although I don't want it to take away too much time from my family, it's part of who I am. I'm not just a mummy. I'm a writer mummy. It's not always easy to juggle career and family but it can be done and it's totally worth it.

Jo Linsdell is a best selling author and illustrator and internationally recognized marketing expert. She is also the founder and organizer of the annual online event "Promo Day" (www.PromoDay.info) and the Writers and Authors blog (http://WritersAndAuthors.blogspot.com). To find out more about Jo and her projects visit her website www.JoLinsdell.com.

Book Review: Out and About at the Zoo by Jo Linsdell

Enjoy a rhyming story of a young child's trip to the zoo in Out and About at the Zoo by Jo Linsdell. A young boy is on a trip with his Mum where this is a lot to see and do. Talking parrots, long-necked giraffes, crazy climbing monkeys and more fill this day out at the zoo with tons of fun.

This simple, delightful book for youngsters is a perfect way to prepare children for their first trip to the zoo or to remember a recent zoo visit. Kids will be able to memorize the simple, lyrical prose while the bold colors will captivate them. What I think is so wonderful about this book is how it teaches children to cherish those times with their mother.

Out and About at the Zoo is an adorable story for your little ones.

Paperback:32 pages
Publisher:CreateSpace (May 18, 2012)
Language:English
ISBN-10:1477446591
ISBN-13: 978-1477446591
SRP: $8.99

I received a free electronic copy of this book. This review contains my honest opinion, for which I have not received any monetary compensation.

Jo Linsdell is a freelance writer, author and illustrator. Originally from the UK, she now lives in Rome, Italy with her husband and their two young sons.

Author website: www.JoLinsdell.com

Purchasing links:

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.it

CreateSpace.com

PROMO DAY - SATURDAY, MAY 14TH!

THE PROMOTIONAL EVENT FOR THE WRITING INDUSTRY IS BACK!

PROMO DAY makes its return in 2011 and promises to be the best yet. Mark your calendars for Saturday 14th May 2011!

An all day, online, international event for people in the writing industry packed full of tips and advice along with a variety of opportunities for writers, publishers, editors etc to promote their work and services. Readers are also welcome to drop in and get to know the authors better in the forums, view the video trailers or read the sample chapters onsite.

Founder and Organiser of the event, Jo Linsdell, had this to say "PROMO DAY came about because I was looking for opportunities to promote my books using the internet at little or no cost. After attending the Muse Online Writers Conference back in 2006, I searched the internet for similar events aimed at what to do after you’ve written the book and found none. I decided to fill the void and so PROMO DAY was born. PROMO DAY is a great opportunity to network with other members of the industry, take part in online workshops and promote and best of all it’s FREE”.

The forums feature added last year will become even more interesting during this year's event with all day workshops and pitch sessions with publishers. There will also be special sections for Companies offering services (virtual assistants, website designers, illustrators, ghost writers etc…) let attendees know more about what they offer as well as plenty of opportunities to network and promote.
Visit the website http://www.jolinsdell.com/promoday for more details of how you can be involved.

ALL DAY PRESENTER WORKSHOPS

Joyce Anthony -  Blogging 

Sandy Lender -  365 days of non-stop marketing

Jo Linsdell - Twitter

Joyce Lavene -  Writing series


TIMED PRESENTER WORKSHOPS

LIVE Workshops will take place in the chatroom on site between 15:00 and 21:00 (Central European Time).

15:00 TBC - TBC


16:00 Sandy Lender - There's Nothing Virtual About the Work in an Online Book Tour

17:00 Suzanne Lieurance - Show Me the Money: How to Make a Comfortable Living as a Children’s Writer

18:00 Robin Richmond - Selling through Independent Bookshops

19:00 TBC - TBC

20:00 Tannia Ortiz-Lopes - Writing Book Reviews: Lessons Learned


BE PART OF THE ACTION, BE PART OF PROMO DAY!

Sign Up For Promo Day 2009

THE PROMOTIONAL EVENT FOR THE WRITING INDUSTRY IS BACK!

PROMO DAY makes its return in 2009 and promises to be the best yet. Mark your calendars for Saturday 9th May 2009!

An all day, online, international event for people in the writing industry packed full of tips and advice along with a variety of opportunities for writers, publishers, editors etc to promote their work and services. Readers are also welcome to drop in and get to know the authors better in the online chatroom, view the video trailers or read the sample chapters on site.

Founder and Organiser of the event, Jo Linsdell, had this to say “PROMO DAY came about because I was looking for opportunities to promote my books using the internet at little or no cost. After attending the Muse Online Writers Conference back in 2006, I searched the internet for similar events aimed at what to do after you’ve written the book and found none. I decided to fill the void and so PROMO DAY was born. PROMO DAY is a great opportunity to network with other members of the industry, take part in online workshops and promote and best of all it’s FREE”.

New features for this year are the Official Blog for the event, http://promoday.blogspot.com, where everyone can keep up to date with new announcements and information regarding the event and the official PROMO DAY book, packed full of information and resources, which will be available to buy during and after the event.

Visit the website http://jolinsdell.tripod.com/promoday for more details of how you can be involved.

BE PART OF THE ACTION, BE PART OF PROMO DAY!

Contact info:
Jo Linsdell - Founder and Organiser
Email: promoday@ymail.com
URL: http://jolinsdell.tripod.com/promoday
Blog: http://promoday.blogspot.com

ABOUT JO LINSDELL:


Born in Gillingham, Kent (UK) in September 1980. Married name Joanne Denise Feliciani. She uses her maiden name, Linsdell, as her pen name. Having passed 10 GCSE’s, she went on to study Business Studies, History and Art A-Levels at Yateley 6th Form. She left England and moved to Rome, Italy in June 2001, where she now lives with her Italian husband. She gave birth to their first son in December 2007.

She has had various jobs including working in hostels, being a tour guide and teaching English as a foreign language. She now works full-time as a freelance writer. She writes regularly for various websites, newspapers and magazines.

Her books, Italian for Tourists and A Guide to Weddings in Italy, along with her various ebooks; Il dolce Natale: Christmastime in Italy, Some Risks are Worth Taking, INSIDE.OUT, La Befana, The Patron Saint of Lovers and Free Promotional Techniques: Ways to market your books are all available to buy at www.lulu.com/jolinsdell.

She is also the creator and manager of the multi award winning site http://writersandauthors.blogspot.com

Visit her at http://jolinsdell.tripod.com or http://www.myspace.com/jolinsdell