Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Book Promotion

SEO for Authors – Part Three of Five Things Every Author’s Web Site Needs
The Third Post on the Five Pillars of Effective Website Design will Focus on SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

What good is having a website, if no one can find you?

Recap

Does your website have these five essential website pillars to be effective for promoting you and your work?
1. Your Branding Message in a Tagline
2. Calls to Action – Driving Your Audience to Action
3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
4. Interaction with Your Visitors
5. Usability and Readability
3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Authors

Content must be coded in text, not as a graphic

It is important for your website to have certain elements in text rather than images so that search engines will be able to find them and then index them (so that your website will come up on browsers such as Bing, Google, Yahoo). Navigation (links that go to other pages on your website), the site title, your book titles, your author name, page titles, and of course, your content needs to be coded in text, not as a graphic with text embedded. Google “indexes” your site following these page links. With so many Google fonts available, it’s almost a crime to use graphics as navigation elements. WordPress automatically uses text for your navigation, and many themes offer background, font and color options to make your navigation menu more interesting visually.

Translation: Do not only use an image of your text embedded in a graphic in the header of your website or your digital book cover images and expect to have your website found easily by search engines. Make sure that you always use text in addition to the image graphic of your book covers.

A photo is worth a thousand words

Did you know that you can make your images work for you in your search results? They just need an appropriate “title” and “alt” text. These tags don’t show up to the reader, but the search engines will track them IF they are tagged with text. WordPress has text fields you can easily fill in with key words when adding your graphic. Don’t leave these valuable tag fields empty! It also helps if your files are named with a word that describes them, rather than the series of letters and numbers a digital camera might give them.

Use the correct image size for faster web site load time

When you use images, make sure they are optimized for the web. Big, high-resolution profile pictures and book covers are great for print, but will slow down your page load times. Images for the web need to be measured in kilobytes (kb), not megabytes (mb). Google considers page load times when ranking your site; the faster the better. Your site will also rank higher if it is mobile friendly (more on Usability coming up in section 5). As of April 21 2014, Google will begin penalizing sites that are not mobile-friendly.

Fresh content aids in SEO – even a small paragraph

Fresh content keeps your site on top of the heap. If you have a blog, it should be incorporated into your website. If you’ve been using Blogspot (blogger) or WordPress, another blogging platform, you can easily integrate those into a domain-based website. It’s recommended to update your blog at least every two weeks. If you don’t have time to blog, there’s no shame in it; just don’t have one. It looks worse to have your last post dated from Christmas 2012 prominently displayed than not to have one. But remember consistent short and sweet blog posts are better than none. It is freshness and frequency that count, not length and complexity.

Plugs-ins: The special sauce for ramping-up your SEO indexing

WordPress has some great paid and free plug-ins to help optimize your site for better search results. All in One SEO Pack has a free and a paid version. These plugins make it easier to add your page titles and meta information.

Part of the process of discovery when setting up a web site is figuring out what people will be searching for to bring them to your site. These words and phrases can be integrated into each page. Individual pages also need their own titles, so that Google and other browsers will index them correctly.

Use Google Plus Social Media for extra Google SEO Goodness

We have a handy guide to getting started on Google Plus. Click here for more information.

Use words in your URLs instead of numerical codes

These words can be automatically generated in WordPress by going to the “Permalinks” section in the administrative screen and choosing “Post Name”. Think about the words that a potential visitor to your website might type in her browser search window in order to find your web site. For instance, www.mywebsite.com/bookreviews/ is better than www.mywebsite.com/?p=7846, even though they go to the same page.

When writing your pages, use sub-headings when topics change. Be sure to use the proper tags, such as <h2> and <h3> for subheads, rather than just enlarging and bolding your text.

Link from other sites

Having a trusted site like Chanticleer that has your review listed and linked back to your website will increase your search engine rankings. These are called inbound links, or backlinks. When linking to content from your website, make sure that the links open in a new browser window, so that your site stays active in the viewer’s browser.

Our next post will focus on interacting with your web site’s visitors.

We hope that this article has shed some light on areas where your website can be improved to help you reach your audience. The best part is all of these improvements are free if you know how to do it yourself. If not, Chanticleer Reviews offers website assistance and creation as part of their book marketing services targeted specifically for authors.

Read Part Four Here!

Rochelle Parry, Chanticleer Reviews’ Creative Director You are welcome to email me at: RParry@ChantiReviews.com
March 9, 2015
The Dante Rossetti Awards 2014 for Young Adult Novels – Official Finalist List
The Dante Rossetti Awards recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Young Adult, New Adult, and Tween Novels. The Rossetti Awards is a division of Chanticleer International Blue Ribbon Awards Writing Competitions.

More than $25,000.00 dollars worth of cash and prizes will be awarded to Chanticleer Book Reviews 2014 writing competition winners!

The Dante Rossetti Awards FIRST IN CATEGORY nine sub-genres are: Contemporary, Fantasy/Steampunk/SciFi, Romance, Historical, Inspirational, Dystopian/Edgy/Urban, Mystery/Thriller/Suspense, Lighthearted/Humorous, New Adult, and Tween.

The Official Listing of Finalists of the Dante Rossetti Awards 2014 Young Adult Novel Competition:
- Song Magick by Elizabeth Hamill
- An Outcast State by Scott Smith
- The Labyrinth Wall by Emilyann Girdner
- Student Bodyguard for Hire by Callie James
- The Black Shadow by Ben Hutchins
- Skin Deep by Kate Pawson Studer
- Just Going by Jianna Higgins
- Crazy Like Mom by Joanna Bowman Woods
- Scargirl by Eliza Mann
- Fruit of Misfortune; Creatura Book 2 by Nely Cab
- A Slow Climb Up the Mountain by Susan Cornfield Dugan
- Project Aquarius by Colleen Jordan
- The ARK Brothers by James B. Hoke
- Odette Speex – Time Traitors by Padgett Lively
- Unearthed by Karen Seymour
- Kerry’s Shattered Heart by Samantha Giles
- Ice Massacre by Tiana Warner
- The Curse of the Crystal Kuatzin by Jan H. Landsberg
- The Obsidian Dagger by Brad A. LaMar
- The Sage Wind Blows Cold by Clint Hollingsworth
- In the Rock by Mark Facciani
- Orbit by Leigh Hellman
- Ambrosia Chronicles, the Discovery by K. C. Simos
- Chrissie’s Run by S. A. Mahan
- Mark of the Remaker by Ian Yamagata
- Elainraigh: The Vow by S. A. Hunter
- The Star Catcher by Stephanie Keyes
- Kharishma by Jenny L. R. Nay
- Riding with Crazy Horse by PJ Martin
- Strega by Karen Monahan Fernandes
- Ruth 66 by Elizabeth Barlo
- The Sage of the Heroine by Bobbie Groth
- The Diamond of Talakmoon by S. E. Burt
- In the Blink of an Eye by Linda L. Creel
- Solomon’s Lake by Jenny Clark
- Scriptors by Shannon Crolly
- The Curse of the Thrax by Mark Murphy
- Discovering Daniel by Nadine Christian
- The Dragon Within by Cindy Lyle
- The Escape of Princess Madeline by Kirstin Pulioff
- The Flying Burgowski by Gretchen K. Wing
- Twist by Roni Teson
- Once Upon a Road Trip by Angela N. Blount
- Scattered Links by M. Weidenbenner
- Sydney West by Rebecca McKinsey
- Legacy, the Biodome Chronicles by Jesikah Sundin
- Project Aquarius by Colleen Jordan
- Orbit by Leigh Hellman
- Mischief and Mayhem by Monte French
- Solomon’s Lake by Jenny Clark
- Dreams of a Red Horizon by Chris Pawlukiewicz
Finalists will continue on to compete for a first place category win in their sub-genre, and then for the overall grand prize of the 2014 Dante Rossetti Awards. First place category winners will receive an award package including a complimentary book review, digital award badges, shelf talkers, book stickers, and more.

We are now accepting submissions into the Dante Rossetti Awards 2015 for YA Novels. Deadline is April 30, 2015.

More than $30,000 worth of cash and prizes will be awarded to the Chanticleer Novel Writing Competition winners! Nine genres to enter your novels and compete on an international level.
March 6, 2015
March Events and Updates from Chanticleer Reviews

The Chanticleer Read Reviews Page is Receiving More Traffic than Ever!

We are happy to report that Chanticleer Reviews’ new web site design is a great boon to those who have reviews posted with us.

The new format on the Read Reviews page is gaining new visitors by leaps and bounds with its easy scrolling format. Visitors are lingering on the Chanticleer Read Reviews page longer and clicking through to read the entire review that has been selected.

How can we tell this? By watching Chanticleer’s Google Analytics screen. It’s more fun than TV! We can see exactly which reviews are being clicked on and read. Then we watch to see if the visitor continues on to the book’s Amazon page or, even more exciting, to visit the author’s web site. Watching visitors from all over the world click on reviews is thoroughly addictive. And totally awesome for the Chanticleer Community of Authors and Readers!

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The MYSTERY & MAYHEM Awards 2015 deadline for submissions is March 31st; click here to enter!

If you write mysteries, you will want to enter this prestigious contest. Here is a link to last year’s M&M award winners.

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March Events Where You Can Find Chanticleer Reviews

CrimeLandia Left Coast Crime Scene 2015 in Portland, Oregon

March 12 – 15, 2015
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Kiffer Brown to participate in Social Media Panel Discussion

Social Media: What Every Author Needs to Know Panel Discussion on Thursday, March 12th at 1 p.m. Kiffer Brown will participate along with Stacey Cochran, Victoria Goff, and Chantelle Aimée Osman. Sue Trowbridge will moderate.

March 13, 2015

Get Your Just Desserts — and Drinks with PNW Mystery Authors and Chanticleer Reviews on Friday Evening, 8:30 – 10:30

Join award winning authors Pamela Beason, Jeanne Matthews, Donnell Ann Bell, Wendy Delaney, Liz Osborne, and Tracy Weber along with Kiffer Brown of Chanticleer Reviews for this Friday night Mixer at the DoubleTree Hotel in Portland, Oregon. Desserts are on Us. Cash Bar provided by DoubleTree Hotel.

You do not have to be registered for the Crimelandia 2015 conference to attend this sure-to-be-fun mixer. Make your reservation here. It’s free! Readers and Authors are welcome. We will have door prizes and drawings!

PUBSENSE SUMMIT in Charleston, S.C.

March 22 – 24, 2015: We will set-up the Chanticleer booth on Saturday afternoon, March 21st.

Chanticleer Reviews & Writing Competitions will exhibit at the PubSense Summit. Please stop by our booth and say “Hey!”

Rochelle Parry, Chanticleer’s Webmaven and Creative Director will be available at Chanticleer’s booth along with best-selling Pacific Northwest mystery author, Pamela Beason. Kiffer Brown, founder of Chanticleer Reviews will also be available and is participating in several panel discussions. We’d love to meet you!

PubSense Summit Panels

Sunday, March 22nd at 3:30 p.m.

Increasing Exposure, Part 2 panel discussion with Kiffer Brown, C. Hope Clark, Claire McKinney, and Shari Stauch, Moderator.

Monday, March 23rd at 1:30 p.m.

Five Star Reviews: Top Reviewers Share Their Insights with Kiffer Brown of Chanticleer Reviews, Michael Hurley, Elizabeth Lacks of Saint Martins Press, Patricia Moosbrugger of Blue Ink Reviews, Kristina Radke of Net Galley, and Shari Stauch, moderator.

Monday, March 22nd at 3 p.m.

Get Seen, Get Noticed, Tools for Heightened Visibility and Stellar Sales with Nancy L. Bauman, Kiffer Brown, Laura Clark, Mary Beth Grossman, and Nicole Rescinti.

Tuesday, March 23rd at 7 – 9:30 p.m.

PubSense Signature Dish & Dialog Dinner: Dine with Your Fave Faculty

Your chance to have dinner with a Pubsense faculty member of your choice. Following dinner PubSense will have a few surprises, including giveaways and a special performance.

Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Gala 2015

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, September 27, 28, & 29th

Save the Date for the Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Gala Banquet, September 27, 28, and 29th at the Hotel Bellwether on beautiful Bellingham Bay, Washington State. Early Bird Registration now available!

Chanticleer Reviews New Website

If you haven’t been by to take a look at Chanticleer’s new web site format, please do! We are continuously updating it and making it easier to navigate.

Be sure to check out the marketing and promotion posts along with the Chanticleer Community News for Books Clubs and Readers.

Now that is a lot to Crow about!

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March 4, 2015
CALLS to ACTION – Part Two of Five Things Every Author’s Web Site Needs
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The Second Post on the Five Pillars of Effective Website Design will Focus on Calls to Action – Driving your web site visitor to take action instead of moving on.

Recap

You already know the obvious elements your website needs, such as your books and where to get them, a page about yourself, a blog (if you keep it up), your contact information, and if appropriate, press page and calendar.

But does your website have these five essential website pillars to be effective for promoting you and your work?
1. Your Branding Message in a Tagline
2. Calls to Action – Driving Your Audience to Action
3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
4. Interaction with Your Visitor
5. Usability and Readability
2. Drive Audience to Action

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What is it you want your visitor to do?
- Buy a book directly?
- Go to Amazon?
- Leave a review?
- Attend your workshop?
- Subscribe to your newsletter or blog?
- “Like” you on Facebook or “follow” you on Twitter?
- Contact you directly?
What do you want visitors to your website to do first and foremost? Make that item the easiest to find on the webpage and make it easy for your website visitor to take action. It’s okay to have that action on more than one page.

LINKS Are Your Friends!

Always have easily accessible links that open in a NEW WINDOW. Once someone is visiting your site, you want to make sure that your site remains open in his/her browser. Visitors should never have to leave your site to check out your book’s page on Amazon or sign up for your newsletter.

Links should be easily recognizable as a way to access more information. Try to use highly visible and friendly “buttons” whenever possible.

And always make triple sure that your links work!

How Google Analytics can help you achieve your goals.

Using Google Analytics, you can track how many people are on your site, what time of day, from what part of the world, what device they used, where they clicked from, how much time they spent on each page before leaving, and more.

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Monitor your traffic with Google Analytics

By tracking viewer behavior you can determine where visitors spend the most time, vs. where you would like them to spend the most time.

If visitors are missing the biggest point of your web site, it’s time to look at your layout and site organization, and change it up to drive the traffic where you want it to go.

You can learn more about Google Analytics here: http://www.google.com/analytics/

Google makes it easy to set-up! And, here is an eight-minute YouTube video that will take you step by step through the setting up Google Analytics for your web site.

Our next post will focus on SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

We hope that this article has shed some light on areas where your website can be improved to help you reach your audience. The best part is all of these improvements are free if you know how to do it yourself. If not, Chanticleer Reviews offers website assistance and creation as part of their book marketing services targeted specifically for authors.

Read Part Three Here!

Rochelle Parry, Chanticleer Reviews’ Creative Director You are welcome to email me at: RParry@ChantiReviews.com

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March 2, 2015
Five Things Every Author’s Web Site Needs, Part 1 of 5
You already know the obvious elements your website needs, such as your booksand where to get them, a page about yourself, a blog (if you keep it up), your contact information, and if appropriate, press page and calendar.

But does your website have these five essential website pillars to be effective for promoting you and your work?
1. Your Branding Message in a Tagline
2. Calls to Action – Driving Your Audience to Action
3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
4. Interaction with Your Visitor
5. Usability and Readability
The First Post on the Five Pillars of Effective Website Design will focus on your branding message because this will make your website’s information and marketing message more effective.

1. Your Branding Message

A tagline should conceptualize your branding message. Websites need to be clear and concise, and only include up front what can be easily digested within seconds. Your first impression needs to be like an ‘elevator pitch’. Your tagline, short and sweet, will appear on every page, in the header.

Branded as Romance Author

For instance, author Laura Navarre’s tagline is Desire has never been so dangerous. From this short phrase you can gather that she writes romance novels with intrigue and risk.

Branded as political romance

Laura also writes under another alias, Nikki Navarre. Although it’s part of the same website, she brands her alter-ego very differently: State secrets have never been this sexy. From this, we know we are going to read politically charged romances, and from the graphics, that they involve the Soviet Union.

Branded as a Cozy Mystery

Author Wendy Delaney uses Cozies with a Kick, implying fun mysteries with a tad of spiciness– that these are not grandma’s cozies. You could not confuse these two authors. They are both women, they both write mysteries, but you know they are reaching different audiences.

Notice how every aspect of their websites focuses and reinforces their specific branding in their web sites visitors’ mind-space.

See how your website compares with this handy branding checklist for your author web site’s homepage:
- Header – Strong Visual Image that Reinforces the Tagline
- Menu Bar – Easy to Navigate
- Homepage – says it all: Author, Tagline, Genre, Where to Purchase, How to Contact, Testimonials, and Visitor Engagement
- Handy Links with Calls to Action
- A personal note from the author at the bottom of the page to call again (visit again).
Our next post will focus on Calls to Action.

We hope that this article has shed some light on areas where your website can be improved to help you reach your audience. The best part is all of these improvements are free if you know how to do it yourself. If not, Chanticleer Reviews offers website assistance and creation as part of their book marketing services targeted specifically for authors.

See the next article here!

Rochelle Parry, Chanticleer Reviews’ Creative Director
February 28, 2015
What is an Editorial Review? And How is It Different from a Review?
After the post The ABC’s of Making Book Reviews Work Harder at Promoting Your Book, we received several questions about what exactly are “Editorial Book Reviews” and how do they differ from “reviews.”

You asked. We answer.

There several types of reviews and reviewers:
- peer reviews by peer reviewers (other authors)
- editorial reviews by professional reviewers in the publishing industry
- manuscript overviews – pre-publication editorial reviews
- consumer reviews by individual consumers (readers)
An author requires all four to make a professional impression on potential readers because each type of review has its own targeted audience and its own aim. And since there are many shades of gray (no pun intended), authors will benefit from having reviews from all four categories.

Editorial Reviews

Editorial reviews tend to focus on the technical aspects (grammar, formatting, spelling, consistency, punctuation, POV, etc.) of a work along with the writing craft of the author by an editing professional. Other publishing or media professionals use these assessments when evaluating for works purchasing decisions or for distribution purposes.

Chanticleer Editorial Reviews:

Here at Chanticleer Book Reviews, our reviews combine an editorial assessment of a work: plot, structure, dialogue, characters, story development, along with grammar and punctuation with the readability of a work. The assessment is written by a professional editor after reading and evaluating the particular work.

Our review team is comprised of experienced editors selected for their expertise in specific genres and blended genres. It is extremely important that the person reviewing the work understands the genre of the work and what the readers of that particular genre are looking for in a “good read.” Thriller fans will be bored with cozy mysteries. Cozy mystery fans will be annoyed with the rapid fire of situations found in thrillers. Romance readers typically don’t enjoy the angst of many literary works that are known for not having “satisfactory or happy” endings. Some works overlap and blend genres which would go against the grain of some genre purists. Even though a professional editor can see merit or if there are problems in a work out of their expertise, we try to select the very best fit between a work and the reviewer.

Chanticleer Book Reviewers uphold the time-honored publishing traditions that readers have come to appreciate and expect from published works while maintaining an open-mindedness for emergent ideas, talent and creativity in the field of literature, media and publishing.

Manuscript Overviews

Editorial Reviews may also be manuscript overviews. Manuscript overviews are to help the author evaluate his work on a broad spectrum on the following issues before getting a line by line edit.

Manuscript Overviews editors look for:
- consistency in story
- POV
- grammatical errors
- style sheet issues
- character development
- dialogue issues
- plotting, plot holes
- pace of story
- theme consistency
- does the work need tightening or is it too staccato
I always like to ask the manuscript reviewers, “Does the work have a ‘beat to it?’ Does the story move along? Are the characters memorable?”

A manuscript overview can answer these questions in an objective and unbiased manner. The goal is to help the author work out issues before she has it line edited and proofed for publication.

On another note, a work can be technically correct, but a horridly boring read. We know, we’ve read them! Then there are works that are compelling to read even if they are bungled with grammatical and writing craft errors. The decisive point is that while an editor can correct errors in grammar, punctuation, POV, etc., they cannot “correct” a boring story. Creativity and Content are King and Queen. However, lack of editing or just bad editing can cause the reader to “stumble” over the text and put it down in favor of trying another read, another author. An intriguing storyline can benefit from a developmental editor – the most difficult level of editing. Most works can benefit enormously from a correct dose of developmental editing.

Remember: The editor sees what the author cannot. The story lives in the author’s mind. The editor sees the gaps between the author’s mind and the words on the page. It is almost impossible to “see” your own gaps because your mind automatically fills them in.

Peer Reviews by Peer Reviewers

For most fiction authors, this would be a review by another author who writes in the same genre. The most beneficial type of Peer Review would be an “endorsement” from an author in the next tier of sales above you—an author who can validate that your work is worthy of his/her endorsement. This type of review generally bespeaks, “If you like my novels, you will like this author’s work. Give this book a try.” The author making the “endorsement” is putting her reputation on the line for you. Request author endorsements judiciously and respect the author’s right to pass on the opportunity.

Consumer Reviews by Individual Consumers

Translation: Readers are Consumers! Authors create content. Readers consume content. Thank goodness!

The reviews posted on Amazon, or on Goodreads, or on websites are precious! These reviews are from individual readers who (hopefully) enjoy reading your works. Readers, on the whole, write very few reviews for many reasons: too busy, not really knowing the specifics of why they like the work, not having the background (read vocabulary) to discuss the work, or it is just too much trouble.

Authors need to make it easy as possible for readers to recommend their books by:
- creating links
- making use of editorial (read: professional) reviews that will give recreational readers the vocabulary from which to discuss and share their thoughts about their works
- thanking the busy reader for any feedback, LIKEs, +1’s etc.
- Post, comment, LIKE, and +1 on the reviewer’s social media posts and blog-posts.
Consumer Reviews are instrumental in creating BUZZ! You, the author, should endeavor to do anything that will make it easier for your readers to spread the word about your work.

Visit examples of how to use the different types of reviews on your author platform’s website.

Great sites to emulate are: Michael Hurley’s website and Alan Brenham’s website.

You will notice that they list peer reviewers (other authors), professional editorial reviews (Kirkus, Chanticleer, Foreword), and readers’ reviews together making it easy to scan for the preferred reviewer(s).

Please look for the next article from Chanticleer Book Reviews on Mastering Book Discovery Tools and Methods.
November 11, 2014
Jennifer Kohout presents “Audiobooks – ACX” at CAC
Jennifer Kohout, co-founder of “Unbound Words,” a digital bookselling technology-based company, will present a session on Audio Books – ACX at the Chanticleer Authors Conference 2014.

After practicing law for ten years, former attorney, Jennifer Kohout decided it was time for a change. She has been writing full-time since 2012 and has published ten titles, five of which are currently offered as audiobooks.

Too many authors have been left out the quickly growing digital audio market. Today’s busy “readers” listen to books while they commute, exercise, stand in line, or even while taking care of household chores. Today’s fast-paced lifestyle demands multiplexing!

Audiobooks can help you reach expand your readership by allowing you to reach this busy target market. Jennifer will present an overview of ACX, the leader in audiobook technology, to get you started and headed in the right direction to take advantage of this new publishing tool.

Get your title up and out there to this growing market! ACX has revolutionized the audiobook creation process. ACX puts you in the driver’s seat! ACX was just acquired by Amazon, the leading provider of audio content and entertainment.

Jennifer is also an author of dark and sexy paranormal romance novels that are considered to be “unconventional. She has seven novels and three novellas published.

Jennifer Kohout will also demonstrate at how “Unbound Words” can increase your book sales at the Books By the Bay Festival on Sunday, Sept. 21st, sponsored by Chanticleer Book Reviews.

We invite you to meet other members of the Chanticleer International Community of Authors at this fun and informative three day event featuring:
- CBR Awards Banquet – You don’t have to be a CBR winner to attend this exciting event.
- Sessions, workshops, and panel discussions
- Keynote Speakers: Shari Stauch and Diane Isaacs
- Networking opportunities
- Prizes and drawings
- Books By the Bay Bookfair
Join us at the elegant Hotel Bellwether on beautiful Bellingham Bay. Register today!
September 5, 2014
Elizabeth Dimarco presents “Discovery Matters” at CAC
Elizabeth Dimarco, marketing executive and co-founder of the “Books I Love” mobile app and will present a session on “Discovery Matters” at the Chanticleer Authors Conference 2014.

An accomplished author, technology geek, and marketing guru, Elizabeth works with with CEOs to think creatively to generate visibility and competitive differentiation in a cluttered marketplace−skills required for book discovery. Elizabeth thrives on audacious ideas that are game-changers.

As authors, Elizabeth says, we expend blood, sweat and tears to transform our ideas, plots and characters into readable formats for the world to discover. But, once they’re available in tangible form, how do our books gain their readership?

Find out how by attending Elizabeth Dimarco’s session on “Discovery Matters” at the Chanticleer Authors Conference. She was asked to present this topic at the Book Expo of America in NYC this past May. It is a session not to be missed!

Elizabeth will also demonstrate the “Books I Love” app at the Books By the Book Fair on Sunday, Sept. 21st that is associated with CAC.

The “Books I Love” is a “word of mouth” recommendation app that allows readers to recommend books on the go–at home, at work, at play. The app is free, uber-easy to use, and makes it FUN to recommend a favorite read! The approach is a win-win for readers and for authors/publishers.

We invite you to meet other members of the Chanticleer International Community of Authors at this fun and informative three day event featuring:
- CBR Awards Banquet – You don’t have to be a CBR winner to attend this exciting event.
- Sessions, workshops, and panel discussions
- Keynote Speakers: Shari Stauch and Diane Isaacs
- Networking opportunities
- Prizes and drawings
- Books By the Bay Bookfair
Join us at the elegant Hotel Bellwether on beautiful Bellingham Bay. Register today!
August 22, 2014
Shari Stauch, Keynote Speaker at CAC
We are excited to introduce Shari Stauch, CEO of Where Writers Win, as our Saturday keynote speaker at the inaugural Chanticleer Authors Conference.

Shari is joining us from Charleston, South Carolina, the new literary center of the South.

At her keynote presentation at Saturday’s CAC luncheon, Stauch will discuss the upheaval between Indie and Traditional publishing, the Hatchette and Amazon issue, bookstores becoming publishers, how the role of literary agents is changing, and emerging publishing avenues.

Shari Stauch has been on the forefront of marketing and public relations for more than 30 years. She conducts seminars on website marketing and author branding and is the CEO of Where Writers Win, a company that “shrinks the web” and vets services for authors.

Stauch continues to work with PubSmart and the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society as well as with agents, editors, and emerging authors throughout the U.S., using her marketing and PR talents to help authors broaden their audiences, and publishers realize greater sales potential.

She currently is the president of the Lowcountry Initiative for the Literary Arts (LILA) in Charleston, S.C. Stauch is an award-winning essayist and fiction writer, author of four non-fiction books, and has recently completed a novel set in her hometown of Chicago, Illinois.

Attendees to CAC will have the opportunity to sit-in on two of Shari Stauch’s informative and engaging workshops:
- How to Build an Audience of Readers
- It’s a Blog-Eat-Blog World
We invite you to meet other members of the Chanticleer International Community of Authors at this fun and informative three day event featuring:
- CBR Awards Banquet – You don’t have to be a CBR winner to attend this exciting event.
- Sessions, workshops, and panel discussions
- Keynote Speakers: Shari Stauch and Diane Isaacs
- Networking opportunities
- Prizes and drawings
- Books By the Bay Bookfair
Join us at the elegant Hotel Bellwether on beautiful Bellingham Bay. Register today!
August 21, 2014
PubSmart 2014, Here We Come!
Come celebrate the new golden age of publishing and learn how to PubSmart!

In April, the first ever PubSmart publishing conference will be held in beautiful Charleston, S.C.

“I can’t wait for PubSmart and the unparalleled opportunity to catch up on recent developments in this ever-changing industry of ours. Conferences like PubSmart remind us of the need to continue sharing and learning from one another… we will have a chance to take stock together, to learn from one another, to see what tomorrow might hold. I don’t know what we’ll find there, but I promise the journey will be rewarding.” PubSmart Keynote Speaker, Hugh Howey

Click here for more information about PubSmart 2014 April 16, 17, & 18, 2014 in beautiful Charleston, S.C.

You will find Chanticleer Book Reviews participating in PubSmart’s collective brainstorming sessions, conversations, and education of the new publishing models and opportunities in today’s market place.
- “Cultivating Influencers, Reviewers, and Book Clubs” panel on Thursday, April 17th.
- “Dish and Dialog Brunch” on Friday, April 18th.
- Look for our booth in the PubSmart Digital Discovery Zone
- Stop by to find out the time and place for Chanticleer’s Happy Hour Rendezvous.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND PUBSMART 2014?
- Traditionally published authors who want to improve sales and discover new markets and avenues for their work
- Self-published authors who want to reach more readers
- Aspiring authors seeking guidance from industry professionals
- Independent publishers who want to better serve their authors and improve their performance
Here are just a few of PubSmart’s Keynote Speakers and Presenters:

Hugh Howey, author; Jane Friedman, Publishing Industry Specialist; Laura Dawson, Bowker; Mitchell Davis, BiblioBoard; Brenda Copeland, St. Martin’s Press; C. Hope Clark, author; Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent; Eric Liebetrau, Kirkus Reviews; Kathy Meis, Bublish; Will Murphy, Penguin Random House; Kristine Monroe, Kobo Writing Life; Amy Quale, Wise Ink Creative Publishing; Maya Ziv, Harper Collins

Now this is something to CROW about! See you there! Kiffer Brown
March 24, 2014