Savvy Saturday: Celebrating the 1st Birthday of The Lesson with Joyce Ward

This week Joyce Ward's book, The Lesson, turned a year old. To celebrate this anniversary, Joyce is joining us today to tell readers a little about her experience in those important first 365 days.

Hey Joyce! So how was this first year with your book?

Hello! So nice to be visiting with you. As you know, The Lesson, celebrated a birthday on April 6th. The year flew by and I’m still pinching myself. I love the thriller/horror genre and was very proud of the book.

Having a book published was a dream come true. But the experience wasn’t without its ups and downs. I must confess I spent way too much time watching how my book was doing on Amazon.

We heard you did some fun events this year, including Facebook parties and blog hops. What are your thoughts on those looking back?

Facebook parties were my favorite. They were a lot of fun and gave me the opportunity to interact with readers in real time.

I also did a few blog hops and participated in some huge blog celebrations, some were worth it, but some were, for me, a waste of money.

If you could, what would you do differently for this next year?

Sticking with the thriller/horror books, I would mainly promote on blogs or FB pages that cater to the horror genre. Because I don’t write gore, finding such groups might be difficult.

I would also build my Twitter following, grow a mailing list, and post more often to my website, and FB author page.

On that same note, what do you think worked really well?

Facebook parties were the best. Lots of interaction and the giveaways worked extremely well.

I know you write under another pen name, but what was your favorite author moment for this book?

No doubt about it—Seeing my name on the cover. What a thrill. A close second would be receiving a fabulous review.

Any advice for authors with new releases?

Do your homework: Find blogs and Facebook sites that specialize in the genre you’re writing. Use them!

Use all social media to the max!

Interact with other authors. They offer a wealth of information and encouragement. When my book was released, I was too timid to reach out and I regret not doing so.

Joyce Ward stopped stirring up trouble in the corporate world a few years ago and now satisfies her appetite for mayhem in the fictional world. When she isn't working on one of her cozy horror, paranormal romance or historical western manuscripts, she can usually be found hanging out with her family in San Juan Capistrano. She has published several short stories in various anthologies, and she's an active member of Orange County Chapter of Romance Writers of America and O.C. Writers.

The Lesson: A rebellious, young woman and her stoned boyfriend learn an important and frightening lesson after behaving badly in a mortuary.

Find her ebook on Amazon and Kobo for $2.50.