kim smith: Recent Episodes
Kim Smith
So, November brought hurricane Nicole. We only got her as a tropical storm and didn’t vacate our home this time. I wasn’t too worried but oh my! The wind did blow! I am currently still reading the same two books but making very little headway. Instead, I am working diligently on a new book. Yay me! How is your November going?
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Well, by now everyone knows that the storm has passed. It was definitely one for the record books. I am still shaking over it, to be honest. Hurricane Ian taught me many lessons, the first of which, do not discount friendships for the sake of propriety. A dear writing buddy of mine, www.nlwestaway.com invited us to shelter with them, and she and her hubby took the best care of us! And I wasn’t going to even ask them, because well, friends- propriety. You should not do that in the face of a storm like Hurricane Ian. I suffered a little
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and what haven’t I read yet? So, when I say I am behind on my reading, you just do not know. I have so many books! And I thought how fun it would be to list all the ones I have yet to read/finish, and for YOU to tell me if you have read any of them and what you think about them. Here’s the list of what’s on my Kindle: Successful Self-Publishing, Joanna Penn Business for Authors, Joanna Penn Romance Your Brand, Zoe York Romancing the Beat, Gwen Hayes The Witching Well, Sarra Cannon The Singularian, Sandy Butchers The
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like the seasons… nothing stays the same. Fall feeels like changes. Do you long for the change in weather- from the long hot summer to the coolness of fall? Well, me too. Unfortunately, in Florida, there isn’t a whole lot of that. But that doesn’t mean that I won’t have some changes in the digital space for you! I am going to be making a LOT of changes and they are huge ones, folks. What is Kim up to now? I am going to change up my whole brand. I will be giving you more info as time goes on
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and why do we do it? Social media marketing is nothing new. Authors have been using it for years. I personally have been marketing my work on social media since the early 2000s because it was the only thing we could do and feel successful. Trad pub was still king at that time and SM was still very new. Today, by the same token, it has become so popular and to be honest, overused, that most folks don’t like to even talk about social media marketing. Marketers ruin it for all of us, so says Gary V and I honestly
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The Little Theater is the latest book in the Mt. Moriah series. If you want to know more go to the Amazon site here is the link The Little Theater (Mt. Moriah Series Book 4) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TTNQVFY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_gl_RA1YRB7HVE7NKFMZYSZF
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Just a quick update. My contact with the second agent has not taken place yet, I’m still waiting. But I’m still hopeful that this will be a positive interaction once it comes. I just wanted to remind you all that if you have not gone to Writer Groupie, to the podcast or to the YouTube channel, why don’t you do that today? I have so much information listed under the podcasts and in the YouTube channel videos that you might really find interesting especially if you’re a writer. The address for that is writergroupie.net and you will find all the connections there to the videos at YouTube and to the podcast. The podcast actually resides on that site so if you’re a podcast listener you’ll find those there. As to what I’m doing now, I am currently still writing The Overlook, and I am currently editing my young adult fantasy that is in the hands of the agent. It’s a long journey from first draft to publication, you guys, so if you’re in the trenches with me just know you’re not alone, and that we’re gonna make it it’s just gonna take some time. In my personal life I am still working every day, five days a week (although it’s only 5-hour days it is a job and retirement is calling me). I’m looking forward to a day when I no longer have to work, even though I enjoy my job, even though I like the people I work with, it’s just… you get tired sometimes. You just get tired, and you’re ready to quit. Guess it’s that way with writing, as well. Sometimes. You just get tired. So, if you’re feeling tired today, you’re not alone there, either. But we are not quitters. Even though we’re tired, we’re not going to quit. I’m not going to quit, and you’re not going to quit. I refuse to let you quit. Heckfire, I refuse to let myself quit. So maybe we’re just feeling these dog days of summer a little bit more so than usual. Maybe these dog days of summer have gotten us down a little bit, but you know what? There’s always September. There’s always fall, cooler weather, and pumpkin spice to cheer us up again. Looking for a good book to read? Who’s with me? Who’s ready for some cooler weather? And some cooler foods, and some cooler everything? If that’s you, leave me a comment down below. Until next time…
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Or lack thereof… So, what did July bring you? What will you be doing in August? I was able to go on two lovely boat cruises No, no not ship cruises but boat cruises still very fun and would do again! I also heard back from an agent submission… to the negative. Sadly, that seems to be the case for a lot of authors. IF you are one, please feel free to leave a comment below. It’s a big pond and there are only a few fishes who know how to swim, if you get my drift. My biggest question today is this: DO YOU KINDLE VELLA? This is a very interesting opportunity for authors today. It allows one to post stories in “episodes” instead of books. You can post one or two a week if you want! I know this is not new news really, but as usual, it is news to me. At any rate, I have read some of the episodes and am sort of interested in adding some of my work to the collection. I would love to hear your thoughts. Also, I just sent my latest newsletter today, and if you are not subscribed, go on up to the header and do that, won’t you? I am going to be offering some fun freebies very soon! I am currently taking a 6-week online course that I hope will change the trajectory of my writing career. Since it is back to school time, are you doing any professional development these days? Let me know below, I am wondering who is with me. Well, that is enough for now. I will see you around the WWW and I hope you are having a great day! Make August a month to remember!
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and the noise just keeps coming…. What else is new? Fireworks, thunderstorms, and overall my writing life has been thundering along. I spent the better part of Saturday, July 9th pitching to agents at an online workshop. It was truly a learning experience. Agents are just super nice folks with a job that carries them to all sorts of events and online things. I really felt sorry for the ones with early calls, as it was done via Zoom. At least my lady was very put together and attentive. I was ever so grateful to all of them for their wisdom and kindness. So, did I get any interest? Yes! I did! Am I working hard on subs? YES! I AM! That is why this post is going to be rather short. I thought I was ready to hit the send button but then I found some snaggy things in the first TEN pages of the manuscript and am working through those before I sub. Just enough stress to kill me haha. I’ll be back with more interesting posts in days to come… you are welcome to check out the Youtube channel over here: www.youtube.com/c/writergroupie if you want to hear more of my ramblings.
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I’m sorry I haven’t been blogging. It’s been a busy time here. I am posting this pic and that’s about it. Until next time-k
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Don’t forget to visit my YouTube channel and podcast at writergroupie.net I would love your lines and subs.
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and where do I go from here? I have been blogging on this site for a very long time. I have been writing for a long time too, with a few hiatuses in between. Are you a blog lover as I am? Do you blog too? I would love to see yours. Drop a comment and link to yours below. As for me, I am not certain what I will do when I reach 1000 blog posts, and that may well happen sometime in the next year or so. I never thought of an end game. But yall, all good things come to an end. And I suspect this will too. I do not see myself blogging into my retirement. In fact, I am not seeing much in the writing sphere that makes me even want to continue writing books. Yes, I guess I am being a negative Nellie today. Books are changing, how we perceive them is changing, and to be honest, I just do not feel like I have enough imagination left to fill the pages of more books. Yes, things do change, and I may change my mind about this as well, bur for today, I do not foresee a long future for myself ahead. I am nearing 20 pieces of published work. Maybe 20 is the magic number? Leave me your thoughts. What is going on in your world?
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and which ones are unread yet! So, happy Sunday, yes, I am late with my blog post. I apologize, but I have had the absolute worst case of bronchitis and upper respiratory stuff that I have had in a long while. I was tested for Covid, Flu, and everything in between, and it was none of those. Just a good old-fashioned chest cold. Yep. They still exist, folks. And thanks to that, I am way behind on everything, newsletter, podcast, and blog posts. Not to mention my writing for May. Oh boy. Is that ever a touchy subject. I hope to pen at least 500 words when I finish this. I just have to or all may be lost here. Well, okay, not everything, but I will feel a whole lot better if I get something done. If you are reading for the Kindle content, here is the list: Throne of Glass, Sarah J Maas – have not read any of her work before Death’s Awakening, Sarra Cannon The Singularian, Sandy Butchers – this is an illustrated anthology The Hero of the Ages, Brandon Sanderson The Trouble with Goodbye, Sarra Cannon and that is just the fiction…whew. I have a ton in paper as well but that is a post for another day. Oh, and by the way, these above are also the unread ones. I have done pretty well getting through some books in my TBR this year. Hope the trend continues.
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… and how to get motivated to do it This is being penned in May, one of the hardest months to write, in my honest opinion. I used to take my writing tools out into the sunshine and get the word count down. Now that only serves to make me sleepy and sunburned. And I am back at a job, so who has time? So, why is writing so hard at times and what can we do to get over it? Think potato chips… Huh? Well, I’m glad you asked. For one thing, it isn’t any harder to write on one day than it is on another like some mystical rain that falls in between us and the keyboard. It really isn’t-it’s the same computer, the same word doc and the same story. (unless you are just starting out, and that’s a blog post for another day.) The same story, the same desk, the same everything is waiting for us today just as it did three days ago. Or whenever you last approached it. There is nothing mysterious about the fact that you are not tackling the work. Unless you want to call burn-out, mysterious. But even that is a stretch. No, the reality is, we are just not motivated to write. We would rather sit on the couch eating potato chips and watching Wheel of Time episodes until our minds are numb and our fingers are orange. We just do not have the energy to turn out another day of work. Our answer is: we just can’t. BUT WHY? And I am here to tell you, THAT IT IS OKAY! It’s fine. In fact, if you will give yourself those few days to indulge in another love of yours, sooner or later, that book will come calling. It may happen in the morning shower, it may happen as you are dropping of to sleep, but it’s going to come back to you and you will answer the call. Until then, remember, we are not writers solely. We have other things to capture our attention and we should give in a little sometimes. Now about those chips…
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So many people ask this question… here is my answer Sometimes it is an easy decision to make, and sometimes it isn’t. The reason that is, well, has a lot to do with money and finances. Let me explain…
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Sometimes, writing can take over your life. Sometimes it is so hard to write you wonder why you even call yourself a writer. I turned out four books last year, published three of them. How did I write four books in one year? I am going to tell you right here: Please consider subscribing to my channel. I’d love to have you!
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and how hard that can be sometimes… Welcome to another one of my musings. I have been struggling so hard of late to get my writing done. I just cannot focus long enough to get anything down. Let me explain. This has been going on since I got a job a month ago. I just sort of had to set everything aside and create an entire new routine for myself. I was too tired at the end of the day to do anything, not even cook. Then last week, my darling hubby had a heart attack. Talk about everything coming to a screeching halt. EVERYTHING including my breath. But he has done so well getting over it, that he seems to think they will let him go back to work next week. So, now I find myself full into spring (in Florida it feels like summer!!) and I haven’t written more than 1000 words in a long while. It’s devastating to me because I had been rolling through my books in THE MT. MORIAH series, turning one out every three months since January of 2021. That, of course, has stopped for now. I just cannot do it. I am mentally tapped out. So if you are a reader of the series, please know that I will get book five out as soon as possible, but maybe not by July. Writing in spring is not my norm anyway, to be honest. I am a fall person. I love fall and the crispness of the air and all that goes with it. To me, writing in the spring is the hardest time of year to try. It’s so pretty and you just want to be OUTSIDE. Who’s with me?
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Have you gotten your copy yet? It’s available now on Amazon! The Little Theater (Mt. Moriah Series Book 4) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TTNQVFY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_gl_DJMKJ13NA2EHK43GY1RA
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THE LITTLE THEATER now at Amazon Check out the next book in the Mt. Moriah series coming on March 16 - but you don't have to wait! You can get it via preorder TODAY! Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TTNQVFY It’s another small town sweet romance. I hope you love it!
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Russia. It’s what’s trending. https://www.nbcnews.com/world/russia-ukraine-news Good day, friends. I hope this finds you doing well. I am sitting here thinking how this Russian invasion is going to affect a lot of things pertaining to life in general and well, maybe books and the book industry specifically. There is a lot of talk going around about how the supply chain issues that the US is experiencing will get a lot worse. Gas prices, grocery prices, etc. As if that isn’t bad enough now, this invasion is likely going to cause things to tighten even more. Personally, I hope not. I am tightening my budget belt so much already that my finances feel like they are going to implode. What about Russia and books? Truthfully, I don’t know how this will play out. I believe that writers are pretty dang resourceful and so that means we will see a WHOLE bunch more espionage and thriller books coming out with this common theme of spying on Russia, and how that particular country is characterized as a bad player. But, I really got kind of sick of all that stuff back in the 80s. We’ll see how writers play it now, though. The new books coming may be really good. The events happening now in the headlines will for certain give them plenty of fodder. How about me and writing this stuff? If you are a thriller writer, you should definitely be paying attention. There will be a lot of information coming through that will spur ideas and generate a pace of research you might have been longing for. For me, I am writing romance, and it is sweet, small-town, and not in anyway affected by the world’s news. And I have a new book dropping in March so be sure to look for my pre-order announcement/post coming very soon!
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What’s the latest trending movie on Netflix? Well, I am so glad you asked! It happens to be Don’t Look Up. I have not seen this, I admit. But that doesn’t mean I won’t see it. I just have to wait until I get my Netflix account back up and running. I discontinued service as a knee-jerk reaction to the prices going up. Now I see the error of my ways and likely will get it back. But not until after I finished writing my book. Yes! The FIFTH Mt. Moriah book is underway! But first…other stuff… Are you reading the books in the MM series in order? You don’t have to. They can be read completely stand alone, or in order, as you wish. They have been such a fun thing to write, let me tell you! I hope they are as entertaining to read. A bit more other stuff…about these books-they are SWEET ROMANCES. Some folks thought otherwise back when I first released them with some ahem, sexy covers, but no! They are not that. Haven’t put up the preorder for The Little Theater yet, but that is coming soon! I suspect the book will drop in March. I had high hopes for February, but it was tentative at best. My editor got Covid, an old friend of mine passed away, and to be honest, this book wasn’t at the top of my to-do list. BUT NO MORE!!! More other stuff… I am going great guns at the YouTube channel, having picked up a great lot of subscribers and views over the last month. That has been more of a focus for me lately, but it is a part of my writer life, so it is applicable. I hope you have at least seen some of them, especially the short ones. Here’s the link for you if you need it. YouTube for Writer Groupie Also, I left Facebook this year. In January, I stepped back from it, and to be honest, it was the best thing I have ever done. I save myself countless hours of scrolling through nonsense so that I can focus on more important things like writing! Hope you are ready for March! If you haven’t signed up for the newsletter, go to the link and do that now. March will be a month with some FREE STUFF in the newsletter!!
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February Love Month and other interesting facts about romance! In the month of February, the love month as it is sometimes known, there are a lot of romance writers busily writing their latest work. I know I have been one of them! Would you be interesting to know that romance books has a cool and long history? Who wrote the first romance novel? Georgette Heyer is given the credit for penning the first romance over in the UK and our very own Kathleen Woodiwiss is given the nod for the first single title romance in the US. What does “romance” mean? According to the Cambridge dictionary, a romance is, “the feelings and behavior of two people who are in a loving and sexual relationship with each other”. Who is the best seller of romance novels? According to a site I found, the author said that a woman named Marie Corelli took this honor by selling more books than famous authors such as HG Wells, and Rudyard Kipling. I never heard of her before!!! So, what interesting tidbits do you know about romance novels? Do you write them? Do you read them? What is your fav?
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Book Trends: What you see in the market is NOT what is hot anymore… Hey everyone, hope this finds you all doing well. I decided to try to find some information on writing trends for the blog post today, and instead, I found book trends. Yep. And what you may not know about this may surprise you. Did you know that what you are seeing on the book shelves today is not what is considered a trending book? Nope. That’s because these books on the shelf now as NEW releases were bought by the publishers as far back as two years ago! Poor readers never get in on the new stuff because the old stuff is just now coming out! Okay, so what would be considered a hot trend in books in 2022? I know the writers who follow this blog want to know! And I hope you are all on the NEWSLETTER loop so you can keep up with this stuff. There is a link at the top of the page … just saying. And also, you can find all of my books listed here: https://www.kimsmithauthor.com/books Book Trends in 2022 Romances Mystery, Suspense, Thriller Fantasy and Sci-fi But wait, Kim…isn’t that the usual suspects? Well, yes, yes it is. Here is where things get a little dicey. It’s SUBGENRES that are changing the face of the market. Readers want MORE of the in-between books. SUBGENRES to watch Fantasy Romance (Sarah J Maas has been doing this for some time now) A Court of Thorns and Roses Supernatural thrillers (think Dean Koontz and Quicksilver) Literary fiction (think of all the books you see these days with plain jane covers…likely this sort of book) Here is a link to one that is a bestseller and recommended on GoodReads. https://amzn.to/3r5KkPq Yup. These are the books that are selling out and bringing new readers in. This is EXCELLENT news for us Indie Authors. We can whip one of these out and ride this trend RIGHT NOW this year. You’re welcome 🙂
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here’s a list It recently came to my attention that a lot of readers don’t mind helping out their fav authors, but many don’t know how. Well, reviews obviously, but on Amazon especially, if you are a friend of the author’s, you cannot do that. So what other options are available for readers to do to help out an indie author? I made you a small list. You can certainly leave a comment with other ways as well, I don’t mind. Ways to help out an indie author so that they can succeed You can leave a review. This is always a fabulous way. Sometimes Amazon won’t let you if you are connected to the author some way on social media. I don’t know how Amazon determines this, but I know it exists. Algorithm maybe? Aside from that, especially on Amazon, you can leave what is known as a “rating”. This is giving the book a STAR rating. Please, do be generous because those things are how our books get lifted in the ranking. Another way to help out an indie author is to BUY MORE BOOKS. If you liked one, you may like more. Follow and fan the author on social media. You’d be surprised how often we check out stats. If we gain a follower, and then lose one, it upsets us to no end. Word of caution: don’t follow just to unfollow. Join the newsletter of your fav author. They love to send out emails to those who subscribe and give them all the NEWS first. At least, I do. And I try to send it out on time each month so my Zanies are always seeing something from me at least once a month. And finally, like stuff. Like their Twitter posts, like their videos, like their podcasts. Be a LIKER. Authors love fans who do that. I hope this blog post has helped you and I would love it if you would do all of this for me. Ratings, and reviews, and more sales would be so lovely. But. I’m not begging. No sir.
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It only happens once a year! Don’t you love birthdays? Celebrating another year of life. Yes! We are ALIVE, folks and that is worth all the hoopla we can give it. If you are NOT a newsletter subscriber, please do that now, because in honor of my birthday, I am giving all new newsletter subscribers a FREE SHORT STORY! It’s a short fantasy, and it has dragons in it…. yeah, I know you cannot wait now! All you have to do is sign up for it!
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Book 4 in the Mt. Moriah Series! I have researched cover reveals a number of times and still have not settled on a good way to do this. I always send the cover art to my newsletter subscribers (the Zanies) first. Then, I post it up here. I had thought about teasing y’all, but I decided not to. I mean, I WANT YOU TO SEE IT!!! So here, today, is the teased cover art. I really love it and I hope you will also. I haven’t put up the preorder yet, but that will likely come next week. I will let you know when so you can fly over to Amazon and get it. If you didn’t see my video over on YouTube about my lateness of getting everything done, you can check that out here: https://www.youtube.com/e/writergroupie I’ll be back on next Friday with more and better stuff. I am so behind right now. I apologize!
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I have been with family for the last several weeks and haven’t had a moment to blog. Please bear with me as I get my feet back on terra firma. I will have a new blog (happy new year!) on Friday!
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When you read this, I will be on holiday with my family and likely not looking at this post much. I always welcome comments, and I will be notified of yours, but I may not answer until after Christmas. I will try to get up a year end/year’s beginning post for the 31st when I return. I hope you all have a delightful, fun-filled, love-inspired, wonderful holiday!
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The SWEET romantic women’s fiction novel for you to read this holiday season! Also, if you like your romances a little more “SPICY” – then this one is for you! Thank you all for being my friends and fans. I adore each one of you!
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For newsletter subscribers If you are new here, thank you for stopping in! If you haven’t subscribed to the newsletter, I would like to encourage you to do that now. The link is at the top of the page. I will send you a link to a free short story (A Christmas Heist!) starring my […]
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It’s your lucky weekend! A Mt. Moriah Christmas will be offered for free starting today and going through Tuesday, December 7! Click the link below to get your free deal now! https://amzn.to/3Dlhyx4
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do you like the sales on the Friday after Thanksgiving? Do you take advantage of the sales? What sort of things do you tend to buy? I guess if I am a gift-giver that year, I take advantage of them. If I am a gift-card giver, maybe not so much. This is a curious sort […]
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And things to be thankful for… Let’s all lift a toast to the waning of another year. We’re still here. I’m thankful for you. All of you. Those who read my books and those who hang out with me on social media and those of you on my newsletter list. You are amazing and I […]
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The hunt for something new has begun! I know you are here hoping to find a story that’s ripped from the headlines, but today isn’t going to be that. Instead, I am going to talk about me, my books, and this site. Because we may all be gone soon. Gone in our present form anyway. […]
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I don’t get excited about epic or high fantasy too much these days. But Elden Ring caught my attention. You have to admit the trailer is stellar. And when I discovered that George RR Martin is one of the world-builders, ie. contributors to this new venture, I had to take a longer look. The question […]
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Trending. And while some say you shouldn’t, I say why not? Today’s blog post is brought to you by me, a trending blog star. I go out and find trending stories for you and post about them here, and make them applicable to a writer/author and the life we all lead. Does that sound like […]
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