JOIN US FOR ALL THINGS WESTERN!

Are you aware there's are groups on Facebook where readers and writers of historical western romance gather?

Pioneer Hearts is home to about 75 authors and more than two thousand readers. This is one of the sites I check daily!

In addition to new releases, there are discussions of books and their various components. Authors give readers a peek at a new cover. Authors offer contests and giveaways to members.

The special giveaway is Wiggie Wednesday, named after Linda "Wiggie" Owings, the wonderful mother-in-law of Kirsten Osbourne. We try to make that a bonus with extra prizes tucked in. I've been fortunate enough to meet Linda Owings, and she is truly delightful.

So, if you haven't yet joined, just hop on over and join now. You'll have to be approved because we don't want anyone spamming the group to try to sell vitamins or makeup or anything like. Pioneer Hearts is strictly for those of us who love western historical romance.

Jacquie Rogers' Pickle Barrel Bar and Books is another fun place to hang out with authors and readers. Jacquie is a fun person who has a great presence on Facebook.

Jacquie loves old newspaper accounts as much as I do. She often posts old newspaper facts, old photos, or just fun stuff. She organized the Silver City, Idaho annual get-together. Well, to be truthful, this was the first year for this shindig, but those who attended have requested a repeat next year.

There's always something happening around the pickle barrel.

Yee Haw! See you on Facebook!

POPCORN BOOKS: EASY GUIDES TO THE TECHNICAL STUFF WRITERS NEED

Stephanie Suesan Smith, PhD

Please welcome my eldest daughter. Althought I refer to her as Darling Daughter One, her name is Stephanie Suesan Smith. Her degree is in clinical psychology, but she is also a Master Gardener, non-fiction writer, photographer, and wood worker. In addition, she has helped me with our family research and located legal documents no one else in the family could find. Stephanie lives in East Texas with her two dogs, Star and Sandy. Along with Hero, Stephanie is my tech support. Nice to have a 24/7 helpline since I'm definitely cyber-challenged. Here's Stephanie:

POPCORN BOOKS: BITE-SIZED

GUIDES TO THE UNIVERSE^TM

Just read the manual. For many people, that phrase ranks right up there with “You need a root canal.” At least a dentist gives you anesthesia.

Technical people like to play with the more arcane parts of a program as much as, or more than, the straight forward parts. We forget that writers and other people have actual lives and just want to set up their social media stuff so they can get back to writing. Fortunately, some of us have non-technical people in our lives that remind us of that fact.

To that end, I am starting a series of guides I call POPCORN BOOKS: BITE-SIZED GUIDES TO THE UNIVERSE^TM. They contain just enough information to get you going without all the technical gobbledygook. Better yet, they are only 99 cents each at Amazon Kindle.

The first guide is called HOW TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO MAKE YOUR BLOG WORK HARDER. Getting your blog on Kindle, an Amazon author page, a Goodreads author page, Facebook, and Twitter are covered. In one swoop, you have five bases covered. I include screen shots showing exactly what to do, so you can set things up with as little difficulty as possible.

No Twitter account? No problem. The next pamphlet is HOW TO SET UP A TWITTER ACCOUNT. This guide covers establishing an account and making a nice looking profile page. You not only want a Twitter account, you want to appear as if you know what you are doing and drive traffic to your webpage and mailing list. Screenshots help you with this task, as well.

Other planned guides are:

• Setting up a Facebook personal page
• Setting up a Facebook fan page
• Setting up your Google profile
• Getting started on Google +
• Setting up a self-hosted Wordpress blog

Are there other topics you would like to see? If so, please let me know. My email is stephaniesuesansmith@gmail.com. My website is http://stephaniesuesansmith.com, if you want to see examples of my work.

Stephanie's dogs, Sandy left and Star in the

corner, on a recent visit to Caroline and Hero.

Sandy and Stare are waiting for Stephanie to catch up

from their walk and open the door for them to come inside
from our curent oppressive heat in North Central Texas.

Thanks, Stephanie, for letting us know about your guides and those you've planned in the future. The pamphlets definitely fill a need! And thanks for all the help you've given my friends in the past.

If you love either historical or contemporary western romance, please check http://texasdruids.blogspot.com/ for Lyn Horner's series on western romance. She's invited a number of western romance authors to guest post and share different aspects of the genre. The series appears twice a week through September 1st.