Testimonial from Liia Ann White

I just received this fab testimonial from Liia Ann White – who booked a blog tour for her latest release through WMS.

I used Lucy’s Writer Marketing Services for a blog tour and was instantly left wondering why I hadn’t used her earlier. I’ve used other promotional companies to organise blog tours and appearances, but none of them compare to Lucy. Within hours of emailing her regarding the tour, she responded – not an easy feat with the time difference between the two of us – and she had great spots booked up within days. The entire process ran smoothly and I couldn’t have been happier.

The tour was a great success and Lucy promoted my guest spots on both her personal Twitter and Erotica For All accounts.

I plan on using Writer Marketing Services again and again and again.

K D Grace Case Study

It the one year anniversary of Writer Marketing Services – yay! As part of the celebration, I’ve written up a case study of one of my clients who’s  been with me from the start. I give you… the super K D Grace.

I have been working as K D Grace’s publicist for a year now, and am pleased to say that we still have a good thing going! I work for K D on an ongoing basis – that is, I do what needs to be done at any given time. That means that round the times when K D has a new release, I’m very busy sending her books out for review, securing interviews, guest blog spots, updating her website and social networks and much more. In between those times, though, we still work together on various projects, including K D’s newsletter, publicising reviews she’s received, co-ordinating advertising and keeping K D and her books in the public eye.

Here are a few of the things that I’ve worked on for K D in the past year:


K D Grace says: Lucy Felthouse is one of the best things that has happened to my writing career. With her on board, I know the marketing and PR for my novels and my brand are in good hands. For me, that means a lot less stress and a lot more success. And best of all, it means I get to concentrate on the part I love best, writing the story.

The Initiation of Ms HollyThe Pet ShopLakeland Heatwave Book 1: Body Temperature and RisingLakeland Heatwave Book 2: Riding the Ether

What You Need To Know About Blog Tours

  • What is a blog tour?

A blog tour is a way to publicise you and your book. You write guest blog posts or answer interviews which are then posted on carefully chosen host blogs on a set date.

  • What are the advantages?

It’s great publicity which boosts sales! As you’ll be appearing on a different blog each day you have the chance to gain yourself new readers, let existing readers know about your new releases and get your work added to those all important to be read lists! You are given the opportunity to speak to readers and engage with them, increasing your chances of them checking out your books.

  • What is a guest blog post?

A guest blog post is where you write something that will be of interest to readers, whether it’s about your writing process, your characters, your inspiration, etc. These are then posted on a host blog along with your book cover and buy links to make readers aware of you and your work.

  • What should I write about?

See How To Write Guest Blog Posts for more information on this.

  • Should I write something new for each stop on the tour?

You don’t have to, though it’s highly recommended. Some tour hosts will insist that your content is unique  as sending the same thing out to more than one blog has several drawbacks: the search engines penalise for duplicate content, meaning your post is less likely to be ranked highly; it looks like you can’t be bothered to write new content; there may be people following you on each stop of your tour and they won’t be happy to see the same posts appearing and with each new discussion you have more chance of drawing in different readers as you’re giving them a new ‘hook’ and making them interested in you and your work.

  • What happens after the post is made live?

The post will be publicised on social networks as outlined in the Blog Tour Packages information, but you will also need to publicise this yourself. Send emails to your friends, post something on your own blog and send out links via your own social networks. The more visitors you have, the better. Also, you must check back periodically to see if there have been any comments on your piece and answer them and any questions where applicable.

  • How long does a blog tour last?

That’s up to you. Packages range from one week to four. For more information, visit the Blog Tour Packages page.

  • What do I need to supply for a blog tour?

See Blog Tour Requirements for a list.

  • Your prices are all in GBP – does that mean you only work for UK authors?

No, though I’m in the UK so you’ll need to pay me in GBP. Use a free currency converter to find out the rough cost in your currency. Then you can use PayPal to send funds to me in GBP.

  • I want in. How do I go about booking a blog tour?

Visit the Blog Tour Calendar & Sign Up Page to find out what dates are available and send me your information.

Brand New Website & Now Booking for February

Today I added another satisfied customer to my portfolio! Diane Alberts, a romance writer, asked me to create a new website for her and her fast growing collection of books, and today the project was completed. As is the case with these projects, there was lots of to-ing and fro-ing, but the site is now complete and Diane has let me know she’s very happy with the results. So much so, that she wrote me this glowing recommendation:

Lucy listened to what I wanted, and gave me all of it..but in a better version than what I’d pictured! I asked for beauty and simplicity, and she followed through. Her updates were frequent, and she never left me wondering if she was working hard on my site- I knew she was! I highly recommend Lucy if you want a friendly, knowledgeable, detail-conscientious web designer!

Check out the newly-updated DianeAlberts.com here!

In other news, I’ve scheduled several blog tours of late, and I’m now scheduling into February. So if you’re looking to run a blog tour for your new book, please contact me ASAP to make sure you get the dates you require! More info and pricing on blog tours here.

Lucy Felthouse Confirmed Speaker at Eroticon 2012

Lucy Felthouse will be helping sex bloggers and erotica writers write sex right at Eroticon 2012.

Lucy Felthouse is on the speaker line up for the UK’s very first sex blogger and erotica writer’s conference, Eroticon 2012.  The conference, on March 3rd in Bristol, will be helping experienced and aspiring writers to right sex write with discussions, workshops and inspiration sessions.

The schedule is packed with inspirational sessions and speakers, including writing and photography workshops, a publishers’ question time panel, tech sessions and discussion panels on sex in the media and identity and ethics.

Lucy Felthouse, who will be a part of the marketing your work session and publishers’ panel says;

“I was really excited when Ruby asked me to be a part of the first Eroticon. We don’t have enough events like this in the UK and many of us can’t keep skipping over to the US all the time, so it’s brilliant to have something in the UK for sex bloggers and erotic writers. I’m looking forward to it.”

The conference is the brain child of erotica author Ruby Kiddell, who explains;

“Having attended other blogging and writing conferences this year I felt there was a need for a safe and inspiring event wherein sex bloggers and erotica writers could meet, learn and talk about their genre and all to do with it.”

Speakers and sessions confirmed so far include:

  • Maxim Jakubowski : Writing workshop, Publishers’ panel
  • Zoe Margolis : Identity, ethics and sex blogging panel, Sex and the media panel
  • Hazel Cushion of Xcite books : Publishers’ panel
  • Lucy Felthouse : Marketing your work, publishers’ panel
  • John Tisbury :  Photography workshop

The conference will close with a cocktail party which promises to be an evening of sublime sauciness with readings from the UK’s most exciting emerging writers.

With such a fantastic line up Eroticon will be 2012’s must attend event for aspiring and experienced erotica writers and sex bloggers.

To find out more about Lucy Felthouse please visit http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk.

Getting Started with Amazon Author Central

Amazon Author Central is a great free tool to help you promote your books. Once it’s all configured and all your books are added, a link to ‘More About the Author’ will be included on each of your book pages. This means readers can easily find out what other books you’ve written/appeared in, more about you, see a link to your website, find out about upcoming events, and more.

Once it’s set up you just have to make sure it’s kept up to date, i.e. when you have new releases or arrange signings/events.

What many people don’t realise is you need SEPARATE accounts for the UK and US versions of Amazon. If you want to make the most of it, setting up just one account won’t do. It’s a nuisance, but you’ll have to do everything twice, and be aware that the two versions vary slightly.

Amazon Author Central UK: http://authorcentral.amazon.co.uk

Amazon Author Central US: http://authorcentral.amazon.com

Just sign up for free accounts on both sites and follow the instructions to set up your page.

Here’s an outline of what you can do:

  • Add an author photo (and additional photos)
  • Add your books (if you’re listed as the author, this should be straightforward. If, however, you’ve contributed to anthologies, you may find you’ll have to contact Amazon and have them manually add the book to your page.)
  • Add a biography (make sure to update this accordingly)
  • Add a blog RSS feed (a great way to get your blog in front of new people and encourage them to follow you – currently only on US version)
  • List events
  • Add videos (great if you have trailers for your books)
  • Add your Twitter handle so people can see your latest Tweet and easily follow you
  • See sales information for your titles
  • See customer reviews for your titles
  • Amend and add to product pages (a great way of adding great editorial reviews you’ve had for your books to your product pages – though unfortunately this is only currently available on the US version of the site)


Make sure to take full advantage of everything offered here – it’s free promotion, and a great way to make people aware of you as a writer and hopefully buy more than one of your titles!

All of the features are self-explanatory and easy to use, so get signed up today and make Amazon work for you!

Here are my author pages on both sites so you can see what’s possible:

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lucy-Felthouse/e/B003ZA5I5E/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Lucy-Felthouse/e/B003ZA5I5E/ref=sr_tc_ep?qid=1316187928

**ALSO**

You can also do the same on the French and German Amazon sites now. Your books will be listed under English-language titles, unless of course you’ve had books translated and sold in those languages.

Use your browser’s translate function or have one of the English language sites open in another tab to help guide you through the process on these two sites, as the layout is identical.

Two New Websites & A Blog Tour

Well, I have been busy of late! I’ve completed two new websites, both for creative types. One was for Maggie Hatchard, a Staffordshire based artist, who specialises in flowers and architecture. The other was for Slave Nano, an erotic writer whose naughty stories are definitely not for the faint hearted! You can see both websites in my Portfolio and follow the links if you want to check out their sites.

I also ran a week-long blog tour for Tabitha Rayne to help promote her new release, Mia’s Books. It went very well and Tabitha was so pleased with the service that she wrote me a lovely testimonial, which you can see here, along with Slave Nano’s newly added testimonial.

I’m now busy working on another website, as well as some promotion for existing clients and also a non-fiction title. It’s all go!

Case Study: Casey Sheridan

When Casey first contacted me, she was looking to promote her erotica release, Ruby Red Metallic. Casey had a budget in mind and after discussing a few options, we decided on the best way to use that budget for maximum exposure.

As soon as the way forward was agreed between the two of us, I started work on setting up guest blog posts and interviews on relevant sites, as well as offering review copies to my list of contacts. Casey had already indicated that she would not be able to do any social media promotion during weekends, so I made sure wherever possible that her blog appearances were during the week. I also promoted her ‘stops’ on my own social media networks.

Working within Casey’s budget was no problem. A first wave of posts still left time for more promotion, so I kept Casey informed and we worked on more appearances. When Casey’s budget was almost exhausted we ensured that everything was wrapped up and the result was a successful campaign. The key was communication and Casey has already indicated that she was very satisfied and would use my services for future releases.

Highly Recommended

When I have finished a project I ask all my clients if they’d mind writing me a testimonial. This one from Casey Sheridan popped into my inbox today.

I originally contacted Lucy Felthouse at Writer Marketing Services for help with promotion for my release of Ruby Red Metallic.

Once we discussed a few options, Lucy wasted no time setting up guest blogs and interviews for me at a number of places, handled two or three giveaways, sent out my book for review and posted links to all my appearances on Twitter and Facebook.

Lucy was able to work within my budget and with my odd schedule. She was always available to answer my questions and address any concerns.

Promoting a book can be an overwhelming task for a relatively unknown author. Hiring Lucy was the best thing I could have done for my book and myself. Lucy is well known and well respected in the publishing industry, her contacts and insights made for a flawless experience.

I plan to contact Lucy for future releases.

I highly recommend Lucy Felthouse at Writer Marketing Services.

Naturally, I’m very pleased that Casey is pleased – I do my best to be there to answer questions and assist with any concerns, making sure my clients are happy with what I’m doing. Thanks for the testimonial, Casey, and I look forward to working with you in the future!

The Importance of Updating WordPress

Does your website run on WordPress? Then you need to listen up. Have you ever logged in to the admin area and wondered what that little circle was with a number next to ‘updates’? It’s important, that’s what! Don’t just ignore it and hope it’ll go away. It won’t.

There are two types of updates which will appear there; plugin updates and WordPress updates. Both are important and should always be taken notice of if they appear. Why? There are several reasons you should keep everything up to date.

First, and probably most important is security. Teams of people work hard on WordPress and its plugins to keep it safe from hackers. Making sure plugins and your WordPress installation are up to date is a simple thing you can do to help protect you and your website.

Other reasons include bug fixes, new features and ongoing support. Some developers will not help you out with problems if you’re running an old version. This is understandable, considering many upgrades are bug fixes which could solve your issue/s anyway.

So now you know! Next time you log in and see that little circle coming up – you know what to do. It doesn’t require any technical knowledge and doesn’t take long, either. If it’s an update of WordPress itself (which is usually highlighted by a bar towards the top of the admin area, encouraging you to update), make sure to follow the instructions given about backing up your site – or if you already have a backup system in place, make sure your site’s been backed up recently. That way if there was a problem, you have a copy of your website to revert back to.