Introducing SORMAG

Today I continue my series about literary service providers with another favorite of mine. Shades of Romance Magazine, othewise known as SORMAG to many of us. I remember when LaShaunda launched SORMAG. Way back when we were both aspiring romance writers. LaShaunda has a heart of gold and she gives and gives and gives to the literary community . I'm so happy to be able to feature her. 

Introduce yourself to the readers.  Hello everyone, my name is LaShaunda C. Hoffman.  First I’m a wife, and mother of three.  I work full time for the government and in my off time I’m the owner of SORMAG – Shades Of Romance Magazine.  An online magazine.  I’m also an aspiring writer, working on a few manuscripts.

Tell us about your literary business.  Shades of Romance Magazine or SORMAG as I call it.  Is an online magazine for readers and writers of multi-cultural literature. It is an interactive magazine that features author interviews, blog tours, columns, book reviews and articles. I started it in 2000 to help promote authors and their books.  It has moved from site to print to a blog over the last 10 years. 

Who are your customers? Our customers are mainly authors looking to promote their books.  Sometimes we’ll have a few businesses promote their events or products.  We welcome business that want to reach readers  18 – 65.

Our readers are book readers, book clubs, and authors.

How did you get started? I have always had a love for books.  I fell in love with romance books and had a hard time finding places on the web that promoted the multi-cultural books.  I decided to start a magazine that would help promote multi-cultural books.  We started off just promoting romances and then we moved to all types of books.  We celebrate 10 years of promoting books and their authors.

Like all business, there are ups and downs in publishing. The current economic downturn has caused a sharp reduction in book sales.   How does this affect your business? A lot of my customers have tighten up their promotion belt, which means less ad sales than in the past.  Some have come to me with a budget and I try to work with their budget because I understand that most publishers aren’t paying big advances like they use to.  I’m willing to work with my customers.  My goal is to help them promote their products.

Share a rewarding or successful literary experience you’ve had recently. This month I’m on the cover of the EKG Literary Magazine, which is a blessing, because I’m usually the one doing the interviewing.  It was a nice write up about me and what I do with the magazine.  I am very thankful for the opportunity and exposure to their readers.  - http://ekgliterarymag.com/

How would you like to improve your business? I would like to see SORMAG at more literary events.  I see this as a way to meet new readers.  I know there are a lot of readers who don’t know about us and I would like to be able to attend more events in order to do this.

What do you enjoy reading? Any Christian Fiction favorites or recent notable reads? I enjoy all types of books.  I try to read at least two books a month.  Usually I have a paperback and a book I’m listening to.  I’m currently reading, Dreams That Won't Let Go by Stacy Hawkins Adams. I enjoy her style of writing.

Where can writers find you on the Internet? You can find me on my  blogs – SORMAG – http://sormag.blogspot.com  or my personal one – SEE YA ON THE NET – http://lashaunda.blogspot.com

I’m on facebook and twitter or you can send me an email – sormag@yahoo.com

Introducing Literary Signature Services

Today, I continue my features on literary services providers by introducing Renee Williams. I selected Renee for this feature, because I've observed that she works very hard supporting authors. In particular she is very good to us that are newly published. 

Hello Renee, introduce yourself to the readers. I am Renee Williams, born and raised in the same little town in Southeast Texas.  I’m an avid reader, and have been since my youth.  I am the mother of two, step mother of three and the grandmother of three with a fourth on the way.  I am presently employed as an administrative assistant to the best boss in the world!  I love God!!!  I am active in several ministries at my church.

Tell us about your literary business.  I am the owner of Literary Signature Services, which encompasses several endeavors.  I love event planning and working with authors, so I offer my services to them in planning dinners and/or multi-day events for them and their readers.  I am also a literary blogger/reviewer at All the Buzz (http://www.allthebuzzreviews.com), where I post reviews, author interviews, event recaps, as well as being a tour stop for many virtual tours.  Last year I launched A Hopeful Romantic (http://www.ahopefulromantic.com), which is home to all things romance. 

I also have an inspirational blog, The Master’s Vessel (http://www.themastersvessel.com).  I love spreading God’s love and God’s word, and offering an encouraging word to everyone in need.

Most recently, I have delved head first into web design, offering customized web sites and blogs to authors, or really anyone who wants a beautiful site at a reasonable price!  In addition to my own sites, I have most recently designed the new blog site of national best-selling author Francis Ray (http://www.francisrayblog.com) as well as the site for romance author Victoria Wells (http://www.victoria-wells.com).  I have two more that I am working on right now, and hope to add more in the future.

And finally, LOL, I also plan virtual tours for authors who are seeking an affordable, yet effective way of promoting their latest release.

I’ve got another major project in the works, but it may be a year or so before it’s fully launched.

Who are your customers? Even though I promote to authors, all of my sites are for everyone, especially the readers.  As a reader myself, I love being able to go to sites where I can interact with an author and learn more about them.

How did you get started? Brenda Jackson was coming to Texas a few years ago for a romance writers convention.  I knew I wanted to meet her since she is one of my all-time favorite authors.  So I started planning a dinner for her, which was wonderful, and that’s when the bug hit.  LOL  From there, I branched off into being a reviewer, and All the Buzz was born.  The virtual tours came from working with Marlive Harris of TheGRITS (http://www.thegrits.com), who is my mentor and shero!  Web design came about from having to design my own blogs (again with the help of Marlive) because I couldn’t afford the high prices a lot of web designers charge.

Like all business, there are ups and downs in publishing. The current economic downturn has caused a sharp reduction in book sales.   How does this affect your business?  It cuts down on all aspects – advertising, virtual tours, web design.

Share a rewarding or successful literary experience you’ve had recently. Being able to work with any author is a rewarding and successful experience for me.  It’s not an opportunity many get, so I value each one.

Where do you see Literary Signature Services in five years? I see Literary Signature Services as being a force to be reckoned with in the literary industry, providing all aspects of service – quality and professional service – at a reasonable cost, for the writer who is just starting out to the best-selling author who has numerous books under their belt.

What do you enjoy reading? Any Christian Fiction favorites or recent notable reads? I enjoy reading romance, Christian fiction, mystery/suspense.  The most recent notable Christian fiction reads for me are Heavenly Places by Kimberly Cash Tate and the Jubilant Soul series of books by Stacy Hawkins Adams.

Where can writers find you on the Internet? All the Buzz – http://www.allthebuzzreviews.com , A Hopeful Romantic – http://www.ahopefulromantic.com, The Master’s Vessel – http://www.themastersvessel.com

TyWebbin Creations

Today's literary service provider feature is about TyWebbin Creations. I've used TyWebbin for everything and found the owner to be the utlimate in creativity in professionalism. The owner, Ty Moody, has single-handedly created my virtual brand.

Hello Ty, thanks for being a part of this feature. Introduce yourself to the readers.
Tyora "Ty" Moody is a writer, graphic designer and online book promoter. For over ten years, she's specialized in marketing and design for authors and small businesses. As an avid bookworm, she has managed two book blogs, Christian Bookworm Reviews (est. 2002) and Written Voices Blog (est. 2006). She's the Books Editor for WOW! (Women of the Word) Magazine. Ty is a member of Sisters in Crime (SinC) and American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). She writes romantic suspense and cozy mysteries. Her Christian faith is blended into every project, whether writing or design-related.

Tell us about your literary business.

That's interesting that you ask about my "literary business." I wouldn't call it that because I do on occasion still do design work for small businesses and non-profits. For some reason and only God knows, he steered this little bookworm to work more with authors. There are two key people in my life who set the stage for my working mainly in the literary realm, that's Marina Woods of GoodGirlBookClubOnline.com and Marlive Harris of TheGRITS.com. Both of these two women approached me in 2000 and they opened up a world of opportunities I couldn't have imagined.

Tywebbin Creations is a design and marketing company. On the design side, I do web design and graphic design. For web design, I design HTML-based sites or can set-up a customized blog for an author, whichever they prefer. My graphic design services include promotion items like bookmarks, business cards, postcards and electronic media kits. Last year, I started designing book covers which was something I had many authors ask me about doing over the years. On the marketing side of Tywebbin, I started coordinating virtual book tours in 2009. With the virtual book tours, I promote authors in the various realms of social media.

Who are your customers?
The majority of my customer base has always been authors. My first client back in 1999 was an author. I remember she kept sending me emails asking me did I build websites for others and I was real hesitant back then. I eventually put together the website for her and it's been amazing. Even clients who come to me with ministry-based sites often have a book or two that they desire to promote.

How did you get started?
I've been designing websites since 1997. The first website I started is one that still is online today, www.faithwebbin.net. A year after I started Faithwebbin, I started two other websites, one called DOEnetwork.com and the other AAKultureZone.com. DOEnetwork.com was probably the most popular site and I had met quite a few author and writer friends from the years 1998-2004. I decided in 2004 to let DOEnetwork.com go. That was a hard decision, but it opened up time I needed to let Tywebbin grow.

Like all business, there are ups and downs in publishing. The current economic downturn has caused a sharp reduction in book sales. How does this affect your business?
There has been a slight affect on the web design front. Over the past two years, I have re-designed my packages I offer so that I can fit an author's budget. Back in the day when I used to do a lot of maintenance work, these days I try to set-up sites in a way that allows the author much more control over pages that needed to be updated frequently. I also do more blog design work than I used to since blogs are usually easier and less expensive to set-up.

The virtual book tours are surprisingly popular and I continue to consult with authors all the time. I think it's because I offer quite a bit of services within the packages I offer. I prayed to not undercut my skills and time, but at the same time offer value with the pricing tiers I have set-up. I know how tight an author's budget can be and how hard it can be to balance promoting when you aren't an "online" person.

Share a rewarding or successful literary experience you’ve had recently.
It occurred to me as I coordinated blog tours for two anthologies earlier this year, I needed a way to represent as many of the contributing writers as possible. So, I added video services to Tywebbin. I just have to send a shout-out to the editors and contributing writers of Victorious Living for Women and SistahFaith. I was extraordinarily blessed and ministered to via both projects - and that's not something I expected while editing video late at night.

The experience reminded me of the types of books I've chosen to promote - Christian Fiction and Nonfiction. These books are about ministering, sharing the Gospel and planting a seed in someone who really needs to develop a relationship with God through his son Jesus. Sometimes it's easy to get so busy, you lose sight of your purpose. God's instilled in me technical skills and passion to be used as a vessel. It's a blessing and I pray to continue to always keep that in mind on every project.

Where do you see Tywebbin Creations in five years?
I mentioned above I added new services like the virtual book tours, book covers and video editing. Some independently-published authors have asked me about doing layouts for the inner pages of a book. That's something I have in my future consideration category. There are other areas I would love to explore - like e-books. I can see there is going to be a major shift in publishing with all the new devices like iPad, Nook and Kindle. Each of these devices will need a special way to format the book. I keep my eye on the publishing and online trends daily. It wasn't until 2007 that I really started to understand the value of social media. Life throws changes and curve balls at you and I plan to keep up. Me staying ahead, often helps me keep my clients ahead.

What do you enjoy reading? Any Christian Fiction favorites or recent notable reads?

I enjoy both Christian Fiction and Nonfiction. My favorite Christian Fiction writers are Sharon Ewell Foster, Claudia Mair Burney, Stacy Hawkins Adams and a certain debut novelist, Rhonda McKnight. :) It's no secret, my favorite genre is mystery and suspense. I love to read and write in this genre. Currently, I'm catching up on two of Terri Blackstock's book, Double Minds and Intervention.

I love reading or tacking bible studies from Beth Moore and Joyce Meyer.

Where can writers find you on the Internet?

Last year, I had a crash course on trying to brand myself. That wasn't easy to do since I'm all over the place. LOL! I now prefer to send people to www.TyoraMoody.com. You can pretty much access everything I do from that main page - including Tywebbin.com, my profile on Facebook.com, Twitter.com, etc.

Rhonda, thank you for the opportunity!

Glad to have you, Ty. Please visit Ty's website to see the website designs and graphic design projects Ty has completed. Including my website at www.rhondamcknight.net 

Simply Said Reading Accessories

This month I decided to feature companies that provide services to the literary community. I purchased book thongs from Debra when Secrets and Lies was released and gave one to a book club president. She asked me where I'd gotten them and said she wanted to buy them for her book club for Christmas. It was then that I realized, hey, I have alot of book clubs reading this blog and they perhaps would like to know about some of the providers of literary services, because of course they love all things literary. So up first is one of my favorites. Debra has a great service. Her products are beautiful.

Hi Deb, welcome to Urban Christian Fiction Today. Introduce yourself and tell us about your literary business.  Hello! I'm Debra Owsley and my company is Simply Said Reading Accessories. I create, custom design and made by hand, reading accessories such as Gift-Marks, also known as Bookmarks, Book Thongs, which is Jewelry for the book lover and Note Cards that we call Love Notes for Authors, Book Stores, Book Clubs and Book Lovers.
I took my need to support my “book habit” into a business I truly love!

Who are your customers? Anybody who wants bookmarks! Authors, bloggers, bookclubs. Some of my customers have been Pat G’Orge Walker, Sherryle Kiser Jackson, Dwan Abrams, and many others who write outside of Christian fiction like Carleen Brice who has a Lifetime Movie previewing this week, and new authors like you Rhonda.

How did you get started? I am also a hairstylist and most of my clients read while under the dryer. One Christmas I decided to make them a bookmark for presents that year. They went over very well. The following year, I was trying to figure what to give again and noticed they were still using the bookmarks! Several asked me to make some as gifts and Author Marcia King-Gamble asked me to create some for her for a event she was doing. I also got orders from some area bookstores. I then started selling them at book events and book festivals I attend

Like all business, there are ups and downs in publishing. The current economic downturn has caused a sharp reduction in book sales.   How does this affect your business? Sales have been very slow the last year or so. And the authors are not getting the advances they once got. It’s been tough. I really had to create packages and sets of items that would be the best value for the money. I didn't attend a few events that I normally would have. I see things moving a bit more and I'm adding on more products and services. Knowing that people are on a tight budget, My focus has been giving them something that they will get plenty of use from while retaining their information, that fans will really hold on to. I had to change direction a bit and become more intentional about my direction.

Share a rewarding or successful literary experience you’ve had recently. I recently had a lady call me who got a bookmark from someone as a gift. She was giving a Tea Party and ordered 250 bookmarks, to “mark” the event with a prayer on the back. It always amazes me how far a bookmark can go. I always tell authors that giving a “giftmark”, really makes people hold on to them and since they are gift quality, people give them as gifts.

One thing I happy been especially grateful for was that several of the authors I have worked with or connected with, such as Donna Hill, Bernice MsFadden and Carleen Brice, featured my work during the holiday season. I was truly surprised and quite humbled to the fact they thought enough of what I do to, give Simply Said Reading Accessories a shout out. SORMAG’s LaShaundra Hoffman also blessed me in a huge way. To me being successful is not always in money, but in the kindness of friends, just because. It was also very satisfying to know people are paying attention.
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Share with me your dream opportunity for Simply Said Reading Accessories. I have been working hard to take this business to another level. I am adding on more products and offering additional services. I also would like to coach authors how to make things happen on a really tight budget. You just need some imagination and a plan. Some people can’t see the forest for the trees, and I want to help them to see all that it’s all right in front of you and it’s truly within reach. I guess project coordinator would be the name of that hat!  One of the things that I have going for me is , yes I’m in the business but I still think like a fan. I feel that once you stop looking at things from a fan’s perspective you lose insight. I also would love to pull together a team of people who are excellent in what they do. I have had the chance over the last few years to meet the cream of the crop, and cream always rises to the top. One other thing  I intend on doing is to hire some of the young sisters and brothers I see with so much talent and show them how to turn that into an income. Simply Said Reading Accessories  in five years will be a force to be reckoned with.

What do you enjoy reading? Any Christian Fiction favorites or recent notable reads? I read several books a week, anything from romance to Non Fiction, depending on my mood. I just finished reading Beautiful Ugly by Shelia Lipsey. The acknowledgement was “To Ugly” and it just made me weep. It was the perfect siegway to a great story about how people see themselves and live in such a ugly life because of demons that haunt you. I am looking forward to reading Secrets and Lies which I’m hearing great things about.

Where can writers find you on the Internet. I would love to connect with you! If you leave Rhonda a comment and email and tell me you read this blog, I would love to offer you a 25% off any retail item! Authors or people who need promotional material, let’s talk. I have a special offer for you. I can be reached at www.simply-said.net, www.facebook.com/simplysaid, www.simplysaidreadingaccessories.blogspot.com
email me at odebdeb@aol.com

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