Saturday, February 4, 2012

Hop Against Homophobia Registration!


An M/M-only blog hop!


Now that we've finally released some gay romances, we (Erica Pike, NJ Nielsen, and K-Lee Klein) have begun to take part in blog hops. They‘re great fun and we‘re very appreciative to be invited along for the ride. One thing we‘ve noticed though is the lack of M/M specific blog hops created for writers and readers of our particular genre. So we thought, why not make one?

K-Lee came up with the clever name: Hop Against Homophobia, and we've decided to use the International Day Against Homophobia, May 17th, as our official hop kickoff date. The hop will run until midnight May 20th.

We hope to get as many authors of gay (M/M) fiction as we can to sign up and show their support. Publishers, sellers and reviewers are welcome to take part as long as your prize is M/M-related.

Here are the author participation requirements:

--- Be an author/publisher/reviewer of M/M fiction.
--- Offer a M/M-related prize (M/M book/ebook, or GLBTQ swag, t-shirt, whatever you can come up with).
--- Provide links of other blog participants to your blog visitors (will be explained in an email, but it'll be as easy as copy-paste).
--- Talk about the International Day Against Homophobia in your May 17th blog entry (as little as just a mention – your choice).
--- Add the colorful Hop Against Homophobia image to your blog/website with a link to the official hop site:

We are discouraging the use of gift cards as prizes. In doing this, we hope to attract readers more specific to our M/M genre and not just readers looking to score a gift card. We want m/m fiction lovers to win our prizes!

We plan to do as much promotion on this as we can and we'd appreciate it if all participants could help by mentioning the hop once in a while. This is OUR (people of the gay fiction genre) hop, and if successful this year, it could turn into a fabulous annual event of M/M love!

What is a blog hop? Take a look at this post.

For authors/publishers/reviewers interested in taking part, specifics will be sent via email once we get closer to the date, so everyone will know what to do. But for now, please sign up and encourage others to do the same :)


1. Xara X. Xanakas  93. Johnny Miles  185. Saloni Quinby  
2. Dustin Adrian Rhodes  94. H.A Caine  186. The Jeep Diva  
3. Dawn Roberto  95. Kit Sands  187. The Story Orgy  
4. Erica Pike  96. Andrea Speed  188. Miho Li  
5. K-Lee Klein  97. AJ Jarrett  189. Harper Kingsley  
6. Zathyn Priest  98. S. L. Danielson  190. Breathless Press  
7. Andi Anderson  99. Blaine D. Arden  191. Z.A. Maxfield  
8. Kayla Jameth  100. Anne Brooke  192. Viki Lyn  
9. Dani Alexander  101. Em Woods  193. L.E. Harner  
10. S.J. Frost  102. Karenna Colcroft  194. CR Guiliano  
11. Tara Lain  103. Jambrea Jo Jones  195. Erastes  
12. West Thornhill  104. Tana  196. Speak Its Name  
13. Vicktor Alexander  105. TanaRaeReads  197. L. J. LaBarthe  
14. L.M. Brown  106. In Honor of William Neale  198. MLR Press, LLC  
15. Embry Carlysle  107. S.A. Reid  199. Laura Baumbach  
16. Michael Mandrake  108. Cherie Noel  200. Sean Michael  
17. Lori Toland  109. Amber Quill Press LLC  201. Lou Sylvre  
18. Carolyn Gray  110. Havan Fellows  202. A.J. Marcus  
19. Diana DeRicci  111. Tami Veldura  203. Lara Brukz  
20. J P Bowie  112. PD Singer  204. Turning The Pages  
21. Lily Sawyer  113. Well Read  205. Sex Scheming Geniuses  
22. Kerry Freeman  114. Brief Encounters Reviews  206. Riverina Romantics (INT)  
23. Kaje Harper  115. Rarely Dusty Books  207. Violet Hilton  
24. Shae Connor  116. Ally Blue  208. Ryan Loveless  
25. L.C. Chase  117. Elizabeth Lister  209. Brenda Cothern Books  
26. Piper Vaughn & M.J. O'Shea  118. K.M. Mahoney  210. The Romance Reviews  
27. Zach Sweets  119. H.B. Pattskyn  211. Tam Ames  
28. Charlie Cochet  120. Stephani Hecht  212. Kendall McKenna  
29. Jaime Samms  121. Connor Wright  213. Under the Covers Book Blog  
30. Taylor V. Donovan & Anne Tenino  122. Devon Rhodes  214. Ranae Rose  
31. DC Juris  123. Louisa Bacio  215. The Book Bunnies  
32. Top2Bottom Reviews  124. Dianne Hartsock  216. Kirby Crow  
33. Silvia Violet  125. Cryselle's Bookshelf  217. krissy  
34. Sara York  126. Dawn K. Johnson  218. Charlie Cochrane  
35. Pants Off Reviews  127. Eden Winters  219. J. Lannan  
36. Matthew  128. Avril Ashton  220. Leontine's Book Realm  
37. Storm Moon Press  129. K.Z. Snow  221. Shadow Sterling  
38. S.L. Armstrong  130. Keta Diablo, Author  222. Dilo Keith  
39. Jessica Freely  131. Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews  223. Rhys Ford  
40. Sue Brown  132. MA Church  224. Lisabet Sarai  
41. Megan Derr  133. Sloan Parker  225. Caitlin Ricci  
42. Samantha Derr  134. Books Make Me Happy  226. R.A. Padmos  
43. Sasha L. Miller  135. Guilty Indulgence Review Site  227. Barbara G.Tarn  
44. Less Than Three Press  136. Matt and Brad  228. Shira Anthony  
45. Hayley B. James  137. Blackraven Erotic Cafe  229. Susan Ryan  
46. Dakota Trace  138. Blackravens Reviews  230. Kim Fielding  
47. Kharisma Rhayne  139. AJ's Reading Nook  231. T D McKinney  
48. No Boundaries Press  140. Dark Divas Reviews  232. Kallysten  
49. Angel Martinez  141. The Readers Roundtable After Dark  233. Beth D. Carter  
50. Simply Erotic Reviews  142. Barry Brennessel  234. Michele L. Montgomery  
51. Missy Welsh  143. Occasional Musings n Ramblings  235. M-C. Houle  
52. Sessha Batto  144. Lydia Nyx  236. Manifold Press  
53. Joyfully Jay  145. Alex Kidwell & Robin Saxon  237. Leslie Lee Sanders  
54. amy lane  146. BA Tortuga  238. Julie Bozza  
55. Kathleen Hayes  147. Megan Slayer  239. David L Dawson  
56. Arshad Ahsanuddin  148. Kathy's Library  240. Gale Stanley  
57. Stevie Woods  149. Suzanne van Rooyen  241. Chris P. Rolls  
58. Andrew Grey  150. Hearts On Fire Reviews  242. Wade Kelly  
59. Kari Gregg  151. Nastasha LaBrake  243. Frances Stockton  
60. Marguerite Labbe  152. NJ Nielsen  244. Jude Mason  
61. Ariel Tachna  153. Kerry Sullivan  245. TL James  
62. B. Snow  154. Andi Lea  246. Penny Brandon  
63. Mary Calmes  155. Anna Lee  247. Vona Logan  
64. J. P. Barnaby  156. Becky Condit  248. Charleigh King  
65. Ellis Carrington  157. Jessica Lee  249. Sarah Madison  
66. Dreamspinner Press  158. M.L. Rhodes  250. S.A. McAuley  
67. T.A. Chase  159. Amanda Corlies  251. Tibby Armstrong  
68. Lavinia Lewis  160. A.M. Burns  252. Jessica Scott  
69. Elizabeth Noble  161. Sue K.  253. Lula Lisbon  
70. KC Burn  162. Angela S. Stone  254. Jeremy Pack  
71. Brita Addams  163. Elin Gregory  255. N.R. Walker  
72. Riptide Publishing  164. Rowan McBride  256. Kimberly @ Turning The Pages  
73. TWLIB Reviews  165. Marie Dees  257. John Goode  
74. Rachel Haimowitz  166. B.G. Thomas  258. Caethes Faron  
75. Rhianon Etzweiler  167. Lissa Matthews  259. Sally Bibrary  
76. Scarlet Hyacinth  168. Jessie Lansdel  260. Reviews by Jessewave  
77. Julie Lynn Hayes  169. Barbara Elsborg  261. Pia Veleno  
78. Kalita Kasar  170. Katey Hawthorne  262. The Novel Approach  
79. Poppy Dennison  171. JL Merrow  263. Jenna Jones  
80. L. A. Witt  172. DARK HAVEN BOOK REVIEWS  264. Elizabeth Kirke  
81. Sui Lynn  173. Full Moon Bites  265. RJ Scott  
82. RANDALL WIGGINS  174. Zahra Owens  266. Lynn Hagen  
83. Haley Walsh  175. Caroline Stephens  267. Alix Bekins  
84. Nephylim  176. J.A. Rock  268. Winona Wilder  
85. Marie Sexton  177. Hunter Raines  269. M.R. Gott  
86. Kayelle Allen  178. Stormy Glenn  270. KT Grant  
87. Anne Barwell  179. Sue Roebuck  271. Red Haircrow  
88. SJD Peterson  180. Makayla's Book Reviews  272. Andrew Ashling  
89. Rick R. Reed  181. Evelyn Shepherd  273. Kool Queer Lit  
90. Kracken  182. A T Weaver  274. Denise DeSio  
91. Erato  183. J.R. Loveless  
92. H.L. Holston  184. Kate Hill  

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)


Friday, February 3, 2012

What is a Blog Hop?

Image
What is a blog hop? 
A book blog hop is an event that usually takes place over a few days and the purpose is to get readers to a) see your name b) see your books and c) have the option to follow your blog to get to know you as an author and to be kept up to date about your future work. 

Tip! The more often you take part in events like blog hops, the quicker the readers will learn your names.

What do I need to take part?
A blog :) We also suggest you have a tool on your blog, either the "follow" button on Blogger or some other similar thing (like Google Network). If you don't want such feature you could always leave a link to your author facebook page, twitter, a newsletter or some other way for the interested readers to follow you. It's up to you if you make following mandatory to take part, but it is our experience that people don't like jumping through hoops, especially after a long day of hopping. 
You will also need a prize! Not all blog hops insist upon a prize, but a prize a great incentive for people to visit your blog and a great way for you to get your work seen.

Tip! It's a good idea to blog about the hop a few days before it takes place. It'll generate interest and get people excited. We also hope that people will spread the word through facebook and other channels.

How does it work?
Every author taking part in the hop sets up a hop-post on the hop day as early as possible. Over the hop-days, people will drop by and leave comments. Just before midnight on the last the contests close and you may draw a winner (or you can leave it until the next day). Every blog owner chooses their own winners. We recommend making a separate post to announce the winner, because people don't like searching through the blog to find out who won.

Tip! Readers don't like it when the blog owners haven't set up their hop-post when they start blog-hopping (as in jumping between blogs). It's a good idea to have written the post the night before the hop day - if you're not an early riser - and set it to auto post early on the hop day. There's a feature in most blog programs that allows this.

What do the readers get out of it?
A prize! But not only that - they might be finding their next favorite author and a whole bunch of interesting books to add to their piles of to-be-read.

Tip!
 Make sure your books/book links are either easily visible on your blog. It puts people off to have to search through the entire blog/website to find your books. Some won't only be looking at your giveaway-book/prize - they'll want to see what else you have out there.

What do I put in my hop-post?
Some hops have themes or events that they'll want their participants to discuss, but sometimes there are no themes (or an obligation to discuss the theme/event).*
State the rules of your giveaway. Some ask people to follow their blog, facebook page, twitter, newsletter   etc. (it's what we call "jumping through hoops", though we're in no way condemning it). Some have quizzes, or have the partakers answer a question, like "what are you reading?" or "how do you show your support to homosexuality". Some prefer a simple "leave a comment with your email address" - it's up to you :)
Say what you're offering as a prize and how the winner will be chosen. 
Finally, it's a good idea to mention the follow options in the blog hop post (whether or not you make follow mandatory).

Tip! Random drawings are best to choose a winner - but there are many ways to do them. There's a nifty tool at Random.org where you enter the numbers of contestants and it'll generate a random number for you (you'll have given everyone a number first or just count down the entries until you find the winner). Erica knows this one person who writes the names on pieces of paper, folds them and tosses them to her three cats. The first three her cats snag are the winners (Erica won a book that way once - thanks kitty!).

Who may sign up for the prizes?
Everyone (...over 18, if your prize is a steamy erotic novel). Other hop blog owners are normally also free to enter the contests of the other blogs.

There may be additional conditions to various hops, like some make it mandatory to stick the hop image to the hop entry, but these are the basic techniques. 

Have questions? Feel free to comment :)


* If you're taking part in the Hop Against Homophobia, the focus will be on the International Day Against Homophobia. It would be nice if everyone wrote a message on that. Something to show your support.