Sunday, September 28, 2014

My 10 Best Fans: I Present You With Mitsy


Naturally, as an independent author fully responsible for all of my own marketing, I spend a great deal of time talking about my book. But this author trip (and it has been a trip!) has introduced me to so many wonderful people that I feel an urge to change focus. I'm doing a spotlight on my 10 best fans, featuring one fan at a time. 

I have a ton of fans, and I want to preface this by saying I love them all. Some, I interact with every day and others quietly work their magic without me even knowing it until I happen upon some post or blog somewhere. So what makes a best fan? To me, a best fan is someone who loves the book so much that they want everyone in their life to read it, plus lots of strangers. A few fans already meet this criteria, but I can only do justice to them by spotlighting them one at a time. So, let 'er rip . . .
 
Name: Mitsy
Location: Greenville, SC
I met Mitsy on Goodreads and I had a feeling about her from the very beginning. My book was somewhere on her to be read pile, but when I did a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society she raised it to the top of her list. Let's review that. Mitsy supported my support of a charity by allowing me to cut in line. How can you not love that? This sort of positive feedback encourages good in this world.
  
Three Interesting Facts About Mitsy 
 
  1. Mitsy has a cat named Jynx who she loves. (That name kicks butt. I'm totally adding Jynx to my list of potential character names.)
  2. She is passionate about sports and will watch just about any one of them. (No, I have not checked to see if she is single. Sorry.)
  3. Her favorite place is a baseball game. (Again, I don't know if she is single and no stalking allowed!)

She is a Best Fan Because . . .
Mitsy made it to the list of my 10 best fans when I discovered she's been promoting The Light Who Shines to her Goodreads groups every month for the group pick since the day she finished reading it. And every month around the time she promotes it, I have a subsequent surge of sales. That is how powerful a group recommendation is. 
 
She's also recommended it to her Goodreads friends, shared it on Facebook and Twitter, and told her reader friends about it in person. It is this sort of word of mouth support that drives author success. 
 
Mitsy's Top 3 Authors and Books
Mitsy has an ever evolving list of top authors and books, with each year garnering new favorites. 2014 is still in flux, so her 2013 favorites in her words are:
  1. Lauren Stewart: her Hyde series is phenomenal. It's an excellent paranormal thriller. Not only that she wrote the funniest book, No Experience Required. :) Combine the two and she's #1. :)
  2. Matthew Alan: wrote my favorite book of 2013, and one of my favorite ever, with One Degree. His writing just melts my heart and makes me think. He's one of the few authors who can reach deep inside me with his words. I love One Degree and how he writes. :) Oh, and One Degree should be an instant classic. Only way I can describe it.
  3. Rebecca Donovan: she wrote my favorite NA series, ever, with her Breathing series. Her Out Of Breath series final is another phenomenal book. She took risks by taking her characters in a direction nobody expected, in book 3, and created a masterpiece with this series. This is equal to my favorite series ever: Hunger Games series, Fifty Shades series, etc.
Mitsy's Contact Info
Fellow fans are welcome to connect with Mitsy to talk fan stuff. Fan stuff is a mystery to me, but I'm confident you all have it handled.

My Thanks
Mitsy, from the bottom of my heart I thank you. But, since all my love won't buy you more books, I'm also sending you a $25 gift certificate from Amazon. Happy reading!

Lilo 
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Should you be featured on my 10 Best Fans list? 
I've got lots of great fans and I appreciate all of you. If you are promoting The Light Who Shines, please, Please, PLEASE tell me (lilo.j.abernathy@gmail.com). Promoting includes: 

  • Telling your local library / book store about it.
  • Donating a used to copy to your library.
  • Lending a copy to your book store staff.
  • Recommending it for an online group read or a real world book club.
  • Telling friends about it.
  • Blogging about it.
  • Sharing my promotions with the world (Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads).
  • Recommending it for contests.
  • Etc.