Rock Star Tips

Yesterday I guest blogged and promised tips on building self confidence for public speaking (Rock Star Tips) and realized that post is no longer here. Only a silly nattering on about how I was nervous conducting my workshop Channeling Your Inner Rock Star.

Here are my tips in a nutshell (acorn, if you're wondering)

When speaking in public or just meeting your public:

1. Wear something fabulous that makes you feel extra special. Even a pedicure counts because the whole idea is to make you FEEL like you are extraordinary. Carry a small token to give you courage, like a seashell.
2. Give yourself a stage name if you don't already have a pen name. This will be how you refer to yourself in your own mind when summoning the alter ego who is fabulous in front of crowds and oozes self confidence.
3. Imagine that person has an entourage, a secretary, a personal umbrella handler (PUH) and twenty employees who handle her every need. She also has a second home in ______. You fill in where you've always wanted to live, given scads of moulah.
4. Smile, Nod, Take deep breaths. People will wait if you seem confident. Don't be afraid of dead space. It is like the period after your profound comment.
5. Imagine the group in front of you as a gathering of friends who love you. They WANT you to be fabulous, engaging, honest. There's nothing worse than trying to watch someone who is terrified of failure or rejection. If you believe you are wonderful, the audience will too.
6. Don't look directly at anyone, just scan the sea of faces, in a large crowd and play to the back of the room.
7. If they laugh at your joke, use that pause to collect yourself and proceed.
8. Try to enjoy the fact that people are listening to what you have to say. It doesn't need to be profound, only temporarily entertaining. For the moments you are speaking, you must imagine that they find you interesting, or they wouldn't still be sitting there.

There are scads more tricks but these are the essentials. Feel free to email me if you need some personal love or attention about speaking in front of a group. You are FABULOUS!
Kim

The Dream Jumper's Promise #2!!

I have no problem being #2. Ever. In any situation (except love). At this point - 36 hours into a 48 hour FREE KINDLE giveway on Amazon I have 'sold' over 10,000 copies of this novel and am holding at #2 for Women's Fiction and Contemporary. I'm holding at #3 for Romantic Suspense. Strangely enough, the gal who is beating me has both books above mine. I won't put her name here and give her free publicity until my free days ends. BUT I did email her to say congrats. I'm not a total jerk, just partial. Having auditioned all my life for parts in acting, I won't help another competitor during the competition. Learned that lesson the hard way. I'm thrilled she and I are doing so well and I bet she is too although she is not a new author.
I can't pull myself away from the computer today except to get tea, drive my son to sell a soccer jersey and go to the loo. It's so exciting. Both nights I've stayed awake watching the numbers go up.
Last time I went free I got to #6 in Women's Fiction for one hour but mostly stayed below the top ten line for all 3 days. This time I did more marketing, tweeted, FB'ed to the point of nausea and changed my blurb and cover.
The cover now has more of the bronzed bodies on the front cover, darker blue in the sky and a more compelling lead line: "A mysterious ability, a broken promise, a life changed forever"
And I put Christine M. Fairchild's quote at the beginning of my description to get her opinion on the page seeing she's the Editor Devil and they keep removing her great review.
The blurb now focuses more on the romance. I didn't want it to sound like the typical romance blurb but I think it came off showing the reader that there will be some hot stuff in the pages of this book. After all, I want to represent it truthfully and also sell books. What I noticed last time I went free was that the top downloads had couples on the cover in an intimate pose. And that the blurbs were not beautifully written. So I went ahead and tried to model them.
I read a review this week for an edgy book called Sins and Needles and she rounded up many pro reviews before her free days and put them before her blurb. Her book did really well on the free listings so I copied her.
Must go now and tweet again. Maybe some last minute efforts to sell in the UK too before all the Brits go to bed!
Wish me luck
http://amzn.com/B00AA4FAJC

Free Kindle Download Feb 1 and 2- Fiction 5 stars

I can't sleep I'm so excited over here in Seattle. Yipee! The free days are almost here and I'm looking forward to getting my book's face out there, like a mother whose child has an audition on America's Got Talent.
Tomorrow (tonight at midnight, actually) my baby, The Dream Jumper's Promise, goes free on Amazon Kindle. http://amzn.com/B00AA4FAJC
(I can actually type that link now with one hand tied behind my back and my eyes closed.)
If you like commercial women's fiction where the romance might not be primary but is extremely important, this is a great beach read (page turner). It has wonderful reviews, 4.7 stars on 30 reviews and is climbing steadily in the rankings.

“Fantastic mix of women's fiction light with a twist of magic/psychic without being heavy handed so the 2nd chance love story stays the main focus. The surprises at the end are worth the wait!” Christine M. Fairchild, Editor Devil, Author, An Eye for Danger

Ten months after the presumed death of a missing surfer, Maui SCUBA shop owner, Tina Greene, still can't accept her husband Hank’s death. Without a body, her undying hope for his survival lives on.
Jamey Dunn, an old boyfriend, arrives on Maui from his tour of duty in Afghanistan where he’s a dream jumper for the military. Tina’s inconvenient feelings for him resurface and, even though he dives on her boat daily, she tries to avoid the man who betrayed her years before. Nightly dreams of diving with Hank haunt her and the edge between dreams and reality blur. Sensing danger, Jamey stays close to the woman he’s always loved but Tina turns to Hank's best friend, Noble for comfort. Thinking he can help, Jamey offers to visit her dreams. Tina is distrustful and hesitant to let him into her subconscious mind, but relents. As the threesome come closer to solving the mystery of Hank’s disappearance, danger sets in to reveal that one person is flirting with insanity, one is a traitor, and one is an imposter.

* * * 

I changed the blurb to include Christine's quote seeing they take her review off every time she tries to put it on there because she's an author and Amazon has some dumb-ass rule about other authors reviewing. And I changed the blurb to focus on the romance more.

Let's hope new stats give it that jump it needs to get up there with the top ten.
Please check it out and 'buy' it even if your Kindle, phone, PC or ipad are full up at the moment. You can always library it and pull it out later. The Dream Jumper's Promise.
Thanks a bunch!
Kim Hornsby
Sleepless in Seattle

The Bachelor Gets Duped by Producers- Again!

They are very clever over there at The Bachelor. By now, the producers know what sells and drama is #1 on their wish list. This season, Sean's quest to find that forever woman, Tierra is providing the drama and making the producers giddy with excitement. She is providing enough fodder for two shows- the Bachelor and Evil Dating Woman ( a new reality show I just thought up). Why, in god's name, would anyone in their right mind brag to the camera about how clever they are about dating and winning competitions if they've watched past Bachelor shows and have seen what a social death wish it is for the evil contestant? Look at Michelle Money who later came back on the Bachelor Pad and spent the whole summer trying to prove she was a nice person. Look at Courtney who broke up with Ben and went on to date Ari. You think she's not living down an evil reputation in her every day life. Oh yes she is. Just ask Brad Womack who was supposedly in intensive therapy for years after he did chose a woman in the final episode and later broke up with sweet Emily (who might not be all that sweet if she can't hold onto Jef).
Check out my novella on Amazon: The Husband Hunt http://amzn.com/B00BN1YNS0
It's about a reality dating show and can be read in one hour! Now back to my blog about this.
Being the evil dater women is not good in Bachelorville. Someone tell Tierra. Unless she's going for that roller derby job, and I seriously think so seeing she snubbed funny Lindsay last night on the derby remark, T is doomed for dislike. Did anyone see how the editors cut the skating piece last night to look like T was pushing gals all over the rink and even caused an injury? And now, what we are most looking forward to when they go to Banff or wherever all that ice and snow was, it looks like T runs out onto the ice, gets really cold and it makes her mascara run down her face in emergency proportions. See, I can't say anything nice about her at this point because of her camera bragging?
On the other hand, shame on Sean for choosing roller derby action just because he wanted to see some catty girl fight action. Shame. And shame on him for picking Sara, the lovely woman with only one arm, to go on that date. And shame on the producers for talking him into that. There is a lot of shame going around that Bachelor set this morning.
Front runners for me: I like Ashley for Sean. She's sweet, maybe too sweet for him after that roller derby activity and giving Leslie M diamonds, treating her like a princess and promptly dumping her before they even heard James Taylor's son sing one measly song.
And even though I am not sold on Sean as a sexy bachelor, I will be watching next week to see Tierra's makeup run to her chin in the snow. And isn't that what those shameful producers want?
Check out my soon to be bestselling novel on Amazon NECESSARY DETOUR about a rock star who retires and can't avoid danger to save her own life. http://amzn.com/B00AU50M76
It's holding at #22 on Amazon Suspense!!!

Rock Star Confidence Crumbles

I teach a humble little course about Confidence to writers who tremble at the thought of getting up in front of thousands of adoring fans (or even 2). This story is what happened to me one Saturday, whilst teaching...

As I gazed out on the audience of attendees who came to ‘Channeling Your Inner Rock Star’ and I cautioned my listeners how to avoid reading the audience too closely, I realized that the group in front of me looked more bored than a group of supermodels at a class about humility.

I almost broke a sweat as I worried about how the women in front of me were receiving what I said. Am I being too confident about self-confidence? Not confident enough? Can they tell I’m worried that I’m not helping them enough? Am I simply feeding my desire to be watched, by doing this class? To be loved?  Accepted?

I stopped myself. Be confident. Assume they love you, Kim.

I followed my own advice and believed that they were praising the day they saw my name on the workshop lineup. It’s what you should do in a situation like this.

My audience on Saturday was a small group, given that the AVON live-stream online chat was five feet from our door (with cupcakes), but I was pleased at the turnout. I’d been prepared for one or two. Having been in the Bellevue Hilton bar years before, when we’d added to our group of cocktailers a gal who didn't have anyone attend her workshop. “Oh dang,” we’d said with glasses of chardonnay, “join us and you can do your workshop on us.”

Not my workshop though. I had attendees! After all, it was only 11 am. These pioneers had waded through a Cherry Adair chat and Avon loving bodies to get to the door of the workshop that would teach them how to channel the most confident, most engaging side of oneself in the new days of self- promotion. These gals had put off other incredibly helpful classes to see if I could offer some insight to confidence. All I needed was one person in the class to need me. To need the confidence to do their own PR work.

I raged on. And it was magic.

After the class, the person who I thought was most likely to run for the door in boredom, approached me with a story to break my heart--to make this reader want to champion for her, to read everything she’s written. And, I wondered what, in an audience of writers who worry about self confidence, was I expecting to see? The writers who attended my class, gave me confidence that there are many ways to support, to love and to champion for the women who have left the safe path to write novels. And that we totally rock. You totally rock. Just the fact that we write books, hoping to entertain and enlighten... I love us.

Singing ‘We are the champions, my friend...”

And now, in an effort to Channel my inner rock star, here is my new signature to show I’m social-media savvy...

Fancy Signature,

Kim Hornsby

Commercial Women's Fiction

You only journey if you dare to leave home

The Dream Jumper’s Promise

Necessary Detour

www.kimhornsby.net

www.kimhornsby.blogspot.com

http://twitter.com/kimhornsby

Technically Challenged but Hey, I Can Blog!

Ok, so I can't figure out Createspace, can't attach music to my slideshow/trailer and may self destruct as I try to promote my first book, but I'm trying, aren't I? At the age of 55, I was raised in an age (and town) where computers just weren't available. If they arrived in the school system it was after I graduated. I never sat behind a real computer until I was 40 and had my first baby. The internet had to be explained to me years before by an infommercial host I worked for who called it "the information highway". I'm pretty sure I rolled my eyes and thought he was drunk. How could you get all that information from a box on your desk, I mean really?
Twenty-two years later I have my very own kompooter and can type all kinds of things and publish stuff and pretend that people are listening to me. Yes, I have a blog, yes, I have a web page and yes I can email with the best of 'em but please don't ask me to format anything or delve too deeply into the bowels of WORD to fix anything. Or to go into the bowels of anything, come to think of it. I'm not very savvy at the box on my desk. I recently lost my whole address book in email and can't figure out how to get it back. This is not good seeing I want to email everyone I've ever known to ask them to buy my book. A year before I couldn't figure out how to access my photos, then realised that they have their very own file. It's too much for this old brain. Do I have to learn all this too even though I just think I figured out how to write a book. Yes, yes, I think so. I fear I will get left behind like the kid in Home Alone if I don't learn to keep up. Tweeting is baffling to me and I keep asking my ten year old to figure it out and then let me know in 4 words or less. Facebook is relatively understandable. Email is a breeze unless I go on vacation and can't get in to my account that I've had since I sat at my first computer. BUT, creating slideshows with music has got me pulling my already thinning hair out by the roots and having to join all these groups in Yahoo and post and contribute has me wishing I was a little more technically minded. I'm exhausted just thinking about all this.
Here are some words that didn't exist when I was at the top of my retention and understanding game: Download, jpg, tweet, kindle, pinterest, blog, vlog, hyperlink, internet, search engine ( I still am not sure what this is) and smart phone. The latter of which I do not have, nor do I want.
I am a self published author, as well as published with a real, live NY publishing house and I'm damned lucky to have gotten that far. Super, uber-lucky, some would say, namely some lady on Goodreads named Jayne something who gave my novel a rating of 2 when everyone else loved it. I know I'm fortunate to be where I am, although self pubbing is only a matter of choice, not brains or talent, and I am thankful to be in this space age decade of being able to read off a glowing panel in my hands as I lie in bed at night, especially reading my very own book--words I put on that page. The thought of it is heady.
So when you ask why I haven't created a kick-ass trailer for either of my published books or why I don't tweet more, or share cool photos on FB, please imagine my ability to do these things as a baby lying in a blanket waiting for someone to diaper and feed it. Useless. Dependant on whatever information another writer wants to throw my way.
It isn't that I don't want to do these things. I do. I'm just not developed enough as a modern writer to draw on these new-fangled, dad-burned devices to use what's in front of me. I'm trying the best I can with what I have. No tweeting for now and probably no trailers. But at least there will be books.
Over and out for now. Thanks for reading, as always!
Kim

Necessary Detour is LIVE on Kindle!!!!

So excited. So busy. Can't believe it. Writing short form.
Last night I got an email from The Wild Rose Press marketing director Lisa Dawn and found out that my second book Necessary Detour is Live on Amazon and has been for a week. I felt like I gave birth 7 days ago and hadn't seen the baby. Rest assured I ran to the nursery, saw the baby, held the baby and told it I loved it. Phew.
So now I have two novels on Amazon where two months ago I had none. I"m a bit overwhelmed and can't even stop long enough to correct my apostrophes. Or check the spelling of apostrophe!
I seriously doubt anyone reads my blog but someday, someone might and if they delve into former posts, I want to have chronicled the excitement of publishing my first books.
I like both novels. Alot. But then I think writers should like their own work. Are there things I would change in Necessary Detour? Sure. But it's out of my hands now, published by someone else and all I can do is wish it well in the journey to the best seller list.
I'm still making corrections on The Dream Jumper's Promise, including a re-do on the cover and having control of that feels good. Wish I didn't have this darned full-time jobbie job. And that I didn't need to sleep. I want to email every person in the world and ask them individually to buy my books. Oh well.
Happy Reading!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AU50M76