So I just signed up to the new book cover sharing site, Rifflebooks.com. I think the name lends itself to the notion of riffling through books. Kind of interesting, though somehow still a strange name. Reminds me of a gun rifle.

I’m not one to complain, but I dislike when companies launch products that aren’t ready for use. The site is slow and wonky, and because of that, irritating to use. However, this issue may be due to a large number of people flooding the site during launch.

Riffle is a bit like pinterest, as far as I can tell, only you can’t yet add your own images. You have to use their database, unfortunately. And I’m having trouble finding my own books, which for other authors such as myself, I’m sure, feels like being left out of the party. Actually, many books seem to have been left out of the launch database. Either that or the search option doesn’t work so well at the moment. This doesn’t bode well for Rifflebooks, because that’s almost the only thing you can do on the site, aside from making lists. To get an idea, see my first list here.

Social Bandwagon
Every site, these days, seems to find it necessary to focus on building a community. I realize that make for good business sense, but it’s starting to feel a little forced and can be off-putting. Already on Rifflebooks, there’s an emphasis to acquire “influence”—meaning getting followers, or doing other things on the site. The goal obviously being to make users feel the need to aspire for as much influence as possible, and getting a number assigned to you for your efforts. I dislike these sorts of cheap tactics to force user interaction. If the site is good on its own, users will naturally interact.

Additionally, I don’t see any options where you can upload pics of your personal book stash, or anything like that. It is a book sharing site, after all. I’m sure there are slews of book lovers who would love to show off their favorite books with the antique looking covers and worn-out spines—not to mention different versions of book covers. Perhaps that option is soon to come, who knows.

All in all, I’m not sure how much time I’ll be spending on Rifflebooks. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how they mold the site to make it a little more interesting.

Mammoth Book Of Futuristic Romance is available now in paperback form. Looks like the ebook version is not out yet, however.

The stories in this book include saucy aliens, post apocalyptic futures, and otherworldly scenarios. My story,  Racing Hearts, will give you a heartwarming peek into Phase Nine; a treacherous race that spans the corners of space. Order your copy now.

Sonya stood to face him. His expression displayed a mix of irritation and amusement. “I know the concept of a hard day’s work is difficult for you to understand, pirate, and you’re functioning on a damaged moral compass—”

“My moral compass may be damaged, but at least I’m not a slave to my baser needs.”

She stilled. “And you’re saying I am.”

“You are a demon after all. Your kind are notorious for their debauchee and barbarous natures.”

She choked out a laugh, “My people are barbarous?”

“You said it.”

“And this coming from a pirate.”

“You know nothing of it!” he snapped.

“And you know nothing of me!”

“I know more than you think. And even if I didn’t, I had you pegged purely by the manner in which you dress yourself.”

That gave her pause and she resisted the urge to look down at herself. Her outfit was no more revealing than any other female on the ship. In fact, compared to some, she could be considered downright modest. Her skirts, she had to admit, were on the short side, but that was only to accommodate her tail, and nobody had ever commented on it before. Not that it mattered what anyone else thought of her, especially not some hypocritical pirate.

“Get out of my pub before I smash your face into the wall,” she hissed.

Instead, he took a step closer, goading her. Something in that action fired her blood in a way she’d never felt, and the pace of her heart increased with a surge of excitement. Sonya was used to people backing down when she issued a threat, they never willingly opened themselves up for attack.

She tilted her head at him with renewed interest.

Fellow author, Candice Bundy, who also happens to write about sexy demons (as well as some freaky ones) recently pinned me down until I agreed to an interview.

Here is the result of her rabble-rousing. > http://candicebundy.com/2012/10/indie-author-interview-kiersten-fay/

The Internet is a massive place, and readers can be found every which way. Some of the most popular places authors tread—myself included—is Twitter and Facebook. There are other great places to promote, but for me, these are probably the most used. Actually, mostly Twitter, even though in the beginning I remember saying, “Twitter? What a ridiculous concept.” Meanwhile, I’m still addicted.

There are some potential pitfalls, however.
For authors, these social media platforms are used for marketing. Marketing is important, but it takes time away from what we’re all supposed to be doing, which is writing. And it is super easy to get sucked into Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and now Pinterest has its claws into me, LOL.

Aside from that, their true purpose (being social) all too often gets overlooked. So what you get is an author that only posts about his or her books, and little else. I’m guilty of doing this myself, though I try not to do it too much. However, I notice some folks on twitter who practice this as if it were some kind of religion, and it saddens me because what they’re actually doing is burning up their following. People don’t want to be sold to all the time and will just stop listening if you don’t have anything of interest to say. Bottom line, the point of social media is social interaction.

On the other hand—and forgive me for spinning your head in the opposite direction—if writing is your business (and for most authors, that’s our goal) then all these social media sites have to be looked at as business tools, which means they should be used as business tools. This doesn’t mean I’m telling you to forget everything I just said above. People who use social media correctly still promote themselves. They just don’t do it all the time every time. There is a balance to it all, trust me. I’m not sure if I’ve found it, but I know it’s there.

So what is your preferred social media outlet?