Friday, June 25, 2010

Guest Post & Give Away - Edging Past Reality or Edging Towards Success? Please Welcome Author David Fingerman


Welcome to my blog David and thank you so much for stopping in.  David is a speculative fiction author,  and I am currently reading his compilation of short stories,  Edging Past Reality.  So far I am loving this book,  and I even have a few favorites,  but....you will have to wait for my review for my thoughts on that.  I will say I am almost finished so you won't have to wait too long lol.  Anyways,  David has put together a nice post for us on virtual books tours.  Please be sure to leave him a comment for your chance to win a copy of his book,  and since this is his last stop on his tour,  you won't have to wait too long to know if you are the lucky winner of this fantastic book!  Also,  one lucky commenter will win a $15 Amazon Gift Card.  Good luck.

The floor is all yours David.

A couple of years ago I first heard the words 'Virtual Book Tour.' Until recently I wasn't really sure what that meant or consisted of. After doing a little research I was intrigued. The idea of selling my book from my computer sounded very appealing. I mean, getting up in the morning and checking my calendar - if nowhere to be, say good-bye to shower and pj's are staying on even though I'm going to be interviewed ~ what could be finer? Anyway, I found a couple of sites that offered to put tours together, but for one reason or another I put it off. I think it had something to do with fear of the unknown. Then B.K. Walker and Authors Supporting Authors came along. When the offer for a tour was staring me in the face, I knew I could no longer say no. The second biggest question I had was, will this result in my selling more books? There were no definitive answers that I could find. Some people I talked to thought they sold more books, but it could've been general marketing. One thing everyone I spoke with agreed on - it was worth it. My biggest question ~ what did I have to do? For those of you considering a virtual book tour, be prepared to answer a lot of questions and write blogs. How hard can that be? We're all writers, right?
From April 21 to June 25 I had twenty stops. They were mostly interviews and guest blogs plugging my book (and soon to be released book - I was hoping Silent Kill would be out by now, but such is life), a couple of online chats, and one blog talk radio interview. It was a lot harder than I anticipated. Answering questions about myself was easy. The hard part was changing the answers so I wasn't saying the same thing every interview. Same thing with blogs trying to pimp Edging Past Reality. How many different ways could I tell people to buy my book? Turns out quite a few. As for sales, I definitely sold books directly because of the tour. I don't know how many more came directly from the tour, but I must say that it's been the best two months in sales since EPR first made its debut. But what impressed me even more than sales were the people I met. Virtual book touring is a networking goldmine. I met dozens of wonderful authors, each one more than willing to be used and abused as they use and abuse others all in the name of marketing and promotion. I'm pretty sure most of my fellow writers call it helping each other out, but I digress. If any of you have been waffling about joining a virtual book tour - my advice? DO IT!
It's only fitting that the last stop on my first virtual book tour is here. It's because of Brandi that I, and a number of other authors, got to take advantage of her hard work and take part in the tour. So on behalf of myself, and hopefully all the authors you arranged to go on tour ~ Thank you so much for letting us use and abuse you. Ahem, excuse me ~ for helping us all out.
And being that this is my last blog for the tour, let me say one last time:
~BUY MY BOOK~



Well thank you David for the wonderful post.  You are most welcome and thank you so much for participating in the tour.  I am very excited for Silent Kill and I cannot wait until it's released.  Please be sure to keep us updated.
You can visit David Fingerman on the web at http://www.davidfingerman.com ,  where you can also get a taste of Edging Past Reality with a few excerpts.  Trust me,  you won't be disappointed!  You can also find him on Facebook.  If you would like to purchase his book,  it is available through Amazon.  Just click the link below,  and you will be taken directly to the purchase page.  Thank you so  much for stopping in David,  as always,  it has been a pleasure.  Wishing you much success in the future,  and don't forget to let us know when you hit NY Times Best Seller's List :),  (fingers crossed).  

If you are interested in going on Virtual Book Tour with your own book,  please visit http://virtualbooktourcafe.weebly.com for details.

Thank you all for stopping in and reading.  










Now for the Giveaway:

Since this is David's last stop on his tour,  let's go out with a Bang!  By leaving a comment for David,  you will be entered to win a $15 Amazon Gift Card!  So if you don't win a copy of the book,  you can use your gift card towards the purchase of Edging Past Reality!  Winner will be drawn Wednesday,  June 30th,  also in celebration of the last day of June.  Once the winner responds,  I will email the AGC right to your inbox!




Here's how to enter:


  • Leave a comment for David for an entry to win his book and an entry for the AGC
  • Become a follower of my blog by clicking "Follow" on Networked Blogs or Google Friend Connect on the left sidebar  (1 extra entry)
  • Become a Fan on Facebook for BK Walker by clicking "Like" *found in right sidebar too or click link (2 extra entries) 
  • Follow me on Twitter *also in right sidebar (1 extra entry)
  • Share this Post and let me know where you shared it  *in right sidebar (1 extra entry)
  • Don't forget to leave your email address so if you are the winner I can email you your AGC
Be sure to tell me all you have done for extra entries,  and leave your email.  Thanks again for stopping in and Good Luck!

24 comments:

Cissy said...

I enjoyed your post David. I felt the same way you did at first now I tell any new author, "GO FOR IT!" I have learned a great deal about blogging and have enjoyed the tour.
Cissy

Unknown said...

Hi David,
Great post and oh so true. I especially like the networking. Like you, I have met the most wonderful authors and publishers. Brandi is a gem for all the hard work she does for us.
I'm hoping too, that some readers found my book interesting enough to boost my sales.
Good luck with yours.

Sandy said...

Hi David,

Have you been brave enough to let BK review your book? I'm one of them who is waffling on doing the big tour. It requires so much time.

BK, I'm following you on Twitter. I think I'm already following you on Facebook. I'll definitely follow you on your blog.

Good luck, David. I think I've seen you on Facebook too.

A.Lightbourne said...

Hello David.
I can relate to the 'how do I say the same thing differently 20 times' thing. But we are writers so we work it out. ;o}
I had a lot of fun on my tour too. I will eventually do another, but for now I have to concentrate on writing! VBT can be time consuming.

I like the cover of your book, very eye catching.


Bk I follow you on twitter, facebook and your blog. Do I get retroactive credit? ;o}

A. Lightbourne
www.alightbourne.netau.net
auroralightbourne at gmail dot com

BK said...

Absolutely Aurora! Thanks for stopping in :). Thank you all for stopping in.

Bryce L. said...

I'm really interested in Edging past Reality now, thanks.

Follower +1
Twitter follower +1
Facebook like +1

Awesome giveaway. :)

-Bryce
seaklos(at)gmail.com

Historical Writer/Editor said...

A very good post. I like networking too. Your book seems interesting.

david said...

Thank you all! Cissy, glad you enjoyed it too.
Lorrie, good luck with your sales.
Sandy, yes - I dared to let BK read my book - we shall see : )
Aurora, very time consuming - but worth it.
BK ; )
Seak & HW/E, thank you.

Book Lover said...

The book looks great and I LOVE the cover!
time4mommy@gmail.com

Book Lover said...

# Become a follower of my blog by clicking "Follow" on Networked Blogs or Google Friend Connect on the left sidebar (1 extra entry)

# Become a Fan on Facebook for BK Walker by clicking "Like" *found in right sidebar too or click link (2 extra entries)

# Follow me on Twitter(1 extra entry) Following @time4mommy

time4mommy@gmail.com

david said...

Thanks T4M. Give it a read ; )

Megan Johns said...

Great post, David, and very helpful to someone like me who, so far, has only dipped a toe in the water of blogging and is still plucking up courage to take the plunge!
Best Wishes
Megan

david said...

jump in, megan. the water is warm and friendly. a lot of wonderful people ready to help out whenever needed.

Anonymous said...

Hello David,Just wanted to say I too loved the Hitchcock series as a child and wouldn't miss an episode! In fact it made a family night for my household with us children voicing our own endings of each show. I enjoyed all his episodes, with my favorite being Rear Window, which has stayed with me as well. :) The suspense was wild! Hope you enjoyed the tour, and much success with your book!

Ashley said...

Great post. This book sounds really good. Can't wait to read it!

hewella1 at gmail dot com

Ashley said...

I'm a follower.

hewella1 at gmail dot com

david said...

rightside ~ i'd love to hear some of your alternate endings to hitchcock. and thank you ~ wishing you much success in your writings, too. : )


ashley ~ thank you. i can't wait for you to read it, also ; )

Jules@MoonCatFarms said...

David, it's nice to hear an author's perspective on the VBT. I'm hoping to one day soon be on your side of it as well as on the blogger side. The book sounds really interesting, much success to you.

BKW: I'm a Google follower, a Twitter follower, and a FB fan. Thanks!

Unknown said...

I’ve read ‘Edging Past Reality’ and thoroughly enjoyed it! Currently anticipating the release of ‘Silent Kill’. Dave is a very gifted writer.

BK said...

David this comment is from Janis Friesler, blogger wouldn't let her post it. So she sent it to me and here it is :) :

I agree with you David. I am a virtual author’s assistant. Although, I know how to set up a virtual tour, I outsource all my author’s tour to Brandi. She not only does a great job, but her price is very reasonable. I would suggest all authors should sign up for the tour because it is a great way to get you book out there.



I did all the things for the give away and I tweeted it. I also shared it on my facebook page



Thanks,



Janis

david said...

jules, i just read bk's latest interview with mike dolan - in his words - just do it. wishing you bunches of success.


kris - as always, you're way too kind. thank you!

janis - i second everything you said. : )

throuthehaze said...

Great post David! Virtual Book Tours are great, I know I have found a lot of great authors through them and bought books as a result.

I follow in Google Friend Connect (Throuthehaze)
I follow in Networked Blogs (Rae Pavey)
follow on twitter @throuthehaze
Like on Facebook-Rae Pavey

throuthehaze at gmail dot com

BK said...

Thank you all for commenting....David great job on the book and wishing you much success. We are going to draw the winner now. I will post the winner in a separate post thank you all for stopping in!

david said...

congratulations SANDY! your name was drawn to win a copy of "edging past reality."