Guest Author: Romance Novelist Allie Boniface
I'm in the midst of a Pubslush
campaign for my next novel Swim Season and need lots of help from
friends, family, just about anyone who will give me a hand. This indie
publishing business is hard - the hardest thing I've ever done. To
relieve a little of the stress I've enlisted the help of several of my
fellow authors, who will
answer a few questions I've come up with about high school and varsity
sports, as well as publishing and marketing tips. They'll tell you a
little about themselves and their latest project. I'll
visit their blogs and do the same. This helps all of us meet new
readers, and helps my readers discover new books and writers they may
not know of who have great stuff. Please take a moment to
visit their links. And don't forget to visit my Pubslush page and see what's going on. No swimsuit required.
Allie was born and raised in a tiny community in upstate New York,
which probably explains her fascination with the magic of small town
life. She earned her B.A. in English from the University of Rochester in
New York and a M.A. in English Literature from Case Western Reserve
University in Cleveland, Ohio. Since 1997, she has enjoyed life in the
northern NYC suburbs, where she lives with her husband and teaches
English and Education to high school students. In her spare time, she
and her husband love to travel. She is also a runner, a musician and an
animal–lover.Allie writes sensual contemporary romance. She reads in all genres
and loves chatting with other readers and writers about any topic under
the sun. You can find her around the Web, at writers' conferences,
giving workshops, swapping stories, and generally chatting about romance
writing. Allie loves stories set in small towns and is a firm believer
in the power of love and the emotions that connect us all. Welcome to Adventures in Publishing Allie!
Hi Marianne, and thanks
so much for having me here today! I’m excited to be celebrating the December 1st
release of Cocktail Cruises: The
Collection, a bundle of three sexy novellas plus an exclusive bonus section
that includes cocktail recipes and story excerpts from USA Today and Amazon
best-selling authors. All three novellas feature heroes and heroines in their
early 20s, not too far out of high school, and in fact their adolescent
experiences have certainly shaped the adults they become:
In the first story, both
hero and heroine decide to try speed dating as a way to get over painful young
adult romances.
In the second story, the
heroine has a secret second identity that she first created to help her deal
with her brother’s death when she was a teenager.
And one of the primary
themes of the final story is how young motherhood shapes life decisions, since
the 25-year old heroine had her son when she was just nineteen.
Certainly, most of us
have strong feelings about our teenage years and our high school experiences,
much like these characters. I wouldn't say that my own teen years were fraught
with drama, but they weren't the best four years of my life either (I preferred
my four years in college much more). I was fortunate enough to graduate from a
relatively small high school (about 200 in my class), and I pretty much stayed
away from the party scene because I had my nose in my books or was busy with
theater, choir, gymnastics, or track. I had a few close friends I’m still in
touch with, and though I left my hometown when I was eighteen, I go back often
to visit.
Let’s talk about high
school sports for a minute, shall we? I didn't participate in the “traditional”
ones. Gymnastics was my first love, and I competed all through middle school
and high school. I also ran track. From those experiences, I learned to value
hard work and the power of belonging to a team. Discipline and focus definitely
spilled over into other parts of my life, which is probably why I was
successful in my academics as well.
Speaking of success,
it’s interesting to try and measure that when it comes to publishing. The
market today is so full of new titles, by both indie authors and those
traditionally published, that it makes finding and keeping readers a challenge.
Also, the market is changing so much that what worked to promote books a year
ago has become passé, so authors must continually think about how to engage
with and attract readers. My advice for new authors is to study the market,
join author groups and learn what other authors do (but keep in mind that what
works for one doesn’t always work for another), and keep careful track of how
and where you spend your money. Some of the better marketing strategies
(anything that includes word of mouth) don’t cost a lot of money.
My latest project is the
Cocktail Cruises Collection, which
I’m excited to release right before the holidays. I published the three Cocktail Cruise novellas earlier this
year, and I thought it would be fun to put them all together, along with
something fun – original drink recipes from fellow authors! – to appeal to
readers.
I am currently working
on a prequel to the Cocktail Cruise
series, another novella titled Setting
Sail. It will first appear in the boxed set Passionate Kisses: Love in Bloom, which is scheduled to release
right around Valentine’s Day of next year. This set will
include 9 other romances and is a follow-up to the first Passionate Kisses boxed set which released in June 2014 and has
since sold almost 70,000 copies.
Haven’t gotten your copy
of Passionate Kisses or the Cocktail Cruise series yet? Please stop
by my Amazon author page, my website, or my Facebook page to find out more. And
make sure to sign up for my newsletter, so you can stay up-to-date with all my
contests, releases, appearances, and more!
Allie's Website, Allie's
Amazon Page, Allie's
Facebook Page, Allie on
Twitter, Sign up for
Allie's Newsletter
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