Happy 4th of July!
I'm proud to say that I'll actually be celebrating this year! More so than any other year. I'm not a big fan of being outside, seeing that in the summer I only have to step out of my door for two seconds before being suddenly attacked by mosquitos. I'm either super allergic or super sensitive. Either way, they are drawn to me and I hate it. I was standing in the driveway unlocking my car the other day, and when I got inside I found three bites. THREE! I know what you're going to say. "Use OFF! or something else to spray on you. It doesn't work. Nothing does. So, when I'm outside watching fireworks, I'll be in long sleeves and a parka.
On to the next subject.
My street team newsletter is launching on July 6th and will continue to be sent out the first Monday of every month! In which, as a member, you will find more excitement than you'll understand what to do with! Maybe not. But the reason why this street team is so important is because it's exclusive. If you already get emails from me about ARCs and events and anything else, now you won't. The only way to know what's happening before the general public is to be a street team member. I'll be using this newsletter to announce all of my upcoming releases, title and cover reveals, etc. And MONTHS before I'll be posting to social media about it. Also, there are going to be plenty of opportunities to win prizes and giveaways. In the first month that the newsletter/street team goes live, I'll be hosting a competition for all members. The rules and regulations will be included in the email, and I'm still planning to reveal the title and synopsis for my new stand alone novel coming out in September of 2016. I think there are plenty of incentives for you all to sign up, so I'm going to post the link again here: http://www.megandukebooks.com/#!street-team/c6vk
Now for my final bit of news.
I recently attended UtopYA 2015 in Nashville, and I had a bit of a revelation. I've been focusing a lot on participating in events and less on my online community of readers. I seem to have forgotten that the internet is where I got my start. Specifically on Instagram, thanks to Sasha Alsberg. My main readership is on social media, but I've been trying to branch out into the real world. Attending conventions and festivals to promote my work has been both fun and frustrating. It's more or less a slap in the face when I go to these sorts of things and don't have a lot of success. Not that I'm expecting to sell hundreds of copies of my books, but I've ignored the fact that no one out there technically knows who I am. When I post on the holy trinity (Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram) the response I get is almost instant. I think that has spoiled me in a way. I owe everything to my online following, and I love the "small circle" that's been created around my work, so a major part of me believes that's where I need to keep my focus for a while.
The problem I have with organizing events is that not enough of my readers live in one area to make it successful. Everyone is so spread out, it's hard to measure a good turnout. Because of this, I'm going to start doing more virtual events, such as Google Hangouts and scheduled Twitter chats. This is something I've seen generate a lot of success for others, so I'm going to try it and see how it goes. This doesn't mean I'm going to stop going to events altogether. I'll still be attending them, I just won't be focused on participating. The next festival I'll be at is Decatur Book Festival in September, so if there are enough of you going, I might put together a meet-up. But you'll have to contact me and let me know.
As always, thank you for much for supporting me. A lot of work goes into what I do, and I know all of you understand and appreciate it. I was discussing my books with someone over dinner last night, and I mentioned that money is something I have a major struggle with. I told her that making a profit as always been low of my list of goals, and she said, "But you're helping people."
That's really all that matters, and I can't wait to jump back into writing what I love the most! As soon as the rest of the Mind Breaker books are released, I'll be back to working on my contemporary stories. And THAT is where my heart is!
xx
-Megan.
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