Welcome to Spring 2006! It seems like the earth is spinning so quickly that time can not stand still long enough to allow us to do the things that we enjoy. I'm sure that many of us would love to stop and smell the flowers, relax in a comfortable bath with scented candles and a good book. Yet sometimes, there's too much to do. We must complete books that we've written and prepare to market them to what we hope are "standing room only" crowds. But if you want that to happen you must assure that those who loves a great book know that you have written one. We must market our books by any means necessary. No we should not harass or cajole a potential book buyer but we must do those things to get notice. There are several marketing strategies that I enjoy doing to increase my readership. One strategy of something new and addictive is called blogging.

Blogging is "hot". It is a web journal where people who are called bloggers write about anything they want. Topics range from current events, good books, gossip about television shows and music stars and even love issues. Blogging can be interactive where you write something and people respond.Or you can just write and remove the comments. It is your way of communicating. I enjoy blogging and have met some amazing blogging friends. Many of them share my love of the written word. I have met authors who are best sellers and one that is an international bestsellers. We leave comments back and forth on each others blogs. I have many blogs that I love visiting and I have some that are my favorites. But every blog that I visit brings something new and interesting to blogland.

The goal for me as an author is to introduce my book to readers everywhere and keep it on your mind long enough to purchase it and fall in love with my stories. So marketing your book is a never ending saga that must go on every single day. You must even market in your sleep. Coming up with clever marketing strategies that will draw the readers in is a must do for every author. Using print, media, and radio to get your message about your book out should be planned, the conversation engaging and the information repeatedly given out. You should spend time developing and creating various marketing campaigns that will keep your book in the public's eye. There are so many ways to market your book but you must be creative enough to find them. Finally, you can't sell one book if no one knows that you even wrote one.

"Book Marketing with Fran" made its debut on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 on Achieve Radio. Host Francine Silverman talks with authors, publishers and publicists, providing listeners with a unique perspective on book promotion. The show airs noon to 1 p.m., MST. To access Book Marketing with Fran, go to http://www.ach ieveradio.com and click “Click to Listen” at top of page. Should you miss the show, click “Shows & Hosts” on the left and scroll down to Fran’s show and click, “More-Click Here” for the archives. Patricia Fry, president of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists, and Writers Network) and author of 24 books, was Fran’s first guest. Patricia’s latest book is The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book (Matilija Press 2006), a comprehensive guide for hopeful and struggling authors. The next guest, on March 28, 2006, is Arlene Evans, an expert on colorblindness and author of two non-fiction books and one romantic novel. Fran is author of Book Marketing from A-Z and editor/publisher of Book Promotion Newsletter.

1) How long have you been writing? I’ve been writing for many, many years. I started keeping journals at the age of eleven, but I didn’t recognize my gift until five years ago.

2) You started out as a self-published writer, was that hard? Starting out as a new writer, self-publishing/POD publishing was quite a challenge for me. I started off by querying many literary agents, only to receive one rejection letter after another. No doubt, those rejection letters were devastating, but they also encouraged me to work harder at what I was determined to accomplish. I searched the Internet for a publisher and somehow stumbled upon a well- known POD publisher. I thought they were the answer to my prayers, but I soon found out that through the lack of educating myself, my challenges were just beginning. I dropped money like crazy, in hopes that my investment would soon pay off. If my royalty check for $11.95 didn’t wake me up, my receiving a check that bounced from another publisher I decided to trust with my literary works surely did. At that point, I wanted to give up, but I couldn’t. I decided to start all over and educate myself first about the publishing industry. Through reading books about publishing, Internet research about the business, attending seminars given by POD publishers, and through my own experiences, I learned vital information. That became my motivation to create VOICES, in hopes that I can help aspiring writers avoid the pitfalls and obstacles that I faced. Through it all, I feel victorious. I have a three-book deal contract with Black Pearl Books, Inc., a publisher who takes good care of me, and I have two of my titles published through VOICES

Cushcity.com, which has the largest selection of African-American products on line, is sponsoring its first annual 2006 Best New Author Award. The award will be announced June 1, 2006 and the grand prize is an all-expense paid 7-day Caribbean cruise with Cushcity staff and featured authors in September of this year. The award process commenced Jan. 5 with nominations, and ended on Feb. 28. Over 3,000 nominations were received for more than 130 authors. The 20 authors who received the most nominations moved on to compete for the awards. I am more than honored to be in this contest with the selected authors. Many of the authors are considered top sellers and to be able to stand with them as a potential best new author is a pleasure.

It only takes 30 seconds to do this. Everybody has been emailing me to ask how to vote. It's easy and will only take thirty seconds. Just go to: > http://www.cushcity.com/, scroll down to Rose Jackson-Beavers and click then go down to end of list and click vote. Why do I want to end up in the top 10 position? This is free publicity for me. The cost of publicity is very expensive. Going as far as I can not only helps me but it also gives exposure for my other authors. As I stated earlier, authors are always looking for ways to publicize their work and for these reasons please vote for me. Also please visit my website and participate in our two latest contest and become a winner. See www.priorityboo ks.com.