Big Smile!

Branding and marketing are huge if you have a business, want to sell items that you have made, or if you are an author. The list probably goes on for areas where you need to brand and market, but those are just three that came to my mind. Think of brand names that you know. Whether it’s the breakfast cereal you eat before you start your day, or the shoes you put on your feet. The symbols and colors that come to mind speak of that product, and you know exactly what it is. Drive down a strip of road located in a busy city, and your brain will be boggled with all the branding. You don’t even have to read the sign of a restaurant, or fully focus on it. You know what it is. The yellow arches beckon all of us if we are in a hurry for a quick, cold drink or salty order of fries. And you can see those yellow arches from blocks away, maybe even miles away on the interstate.

Branding and marketing take up a very large amount of my time when I’m not working. My author name of, Deborah Ann Dykeman is not known in my small town, much less around the state of Kansas. Forget about the rest of the world! But in order for me to be able to retire my husband before he’s using a walker, and move to the country, my name needs to be know everywhere. And that takes a long time! I want you to see and smell roses when my name is shown to you, and know that I’m an author, and hopefully know what I write about.

So, when someone contacts me and asks to read one of my books, and they will do a review on their site…wow! There is nothing better than that. Sure, at first I thought it would be a scam, but what do I have to lose at this point in my writing career? I always check out another site to see if it’s legitimate of course. It would be crazy in this world today to not do a bit of research before you jump in with both feet. When everything looks pretty good, I proceed.

And I’m so happy I did!

Pople Backyard Farm at http://poplebackyardfarm.blogspot.com contacted me a couple weeks ago, May 17th to be exact. They requested a copy of my fourth book in the Rubyville series, A Place in My Heart. I thought it strange that they requested the fourth book, but I was just so happy they requested it at all! That put a big smile on my face! They said they would do a review and have it posted within a couple of weeks. So of course I checked them out. And boy do they review products! It’s a great site, and you should really see what’s happening over there. They were true to their word. They read my book and posted a great review here, http://poplebackyardfarm.blogspot.com/p/best-reads-for-summer-2017.html for their summer reading reviews. You may have to scroll down to read my review, but I saw some books I would like to read on my way down the list!

Thank you, Pople Backyard Farm for requesting my book, for actually reading it and then writing a review! It is very much appreciated! And I love your site! I would wish you much success, but you seem to be doing really well already! 😉 But still…much success to you!

And remember to enter my giveaways over at Goodreads. This is for the third book in the Rubyville series, A Place to Heal, https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/231878-a-place-to-heal

This is the link for the fourth book, A Place in My Heart, https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/231879-a-place-in-my-heart

If you win one of the three, signed, printed books I’m giving away for each giveaway, I’ll have it in the mail to you within a day…really! And please, please, please write a review if you read my books. You can do this where they are sold online: Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, Walmart, Target and Amazon. Some of those require a purchase first, but Goodreads does not. Thank you all for your support and helping me on this writing journey! It really does put a big smile on my face! Have a great day!