Today's Guest Author - Contemporary Romance Novelist Liz Matis

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.

Today's Guest Author is Liz Matis

Amazon Top 30 Bestselling Author and Nook Top 15 Bestselling Author, Liz Matis is a mild mannered accountant by day and romance author by night. Married 29 years, she believes in happily-ever-after! She enjoys Zumba, watching sports, and reading. Playing For Keeps, her popular football romance, hit #26 overall in the Kindle store and #12 overall in the Nook Store. Both Playing For Keeps and Going For It hit the #1 spot on the Kindle Best Seller list in Sports Fiction. Fun Fact: Liz read her first romance at the age of fifteen and soon after wrote her first romances starring her friends and their latest crushes! Fun Fact 2: Liz kept an inspiration board for The Quarterback Sneak on Pinterest. 

Welcome to Adventures in Publishing Liz, and thanks for helping me with the Swim Season Pubslush campaign. To get started I thought I'd ask you a couple of questions about high school and sports, since that's what my book is about, and then we'll move on to your marketing tips for authors and your book projects.

Most of us have strong feelings about our high school experience. Was yours a yay or a nay? Please explain.

I have fond memories of high school. While I was not what you would call a popular girl, I had a tight circle of friends. I’m happy to say that 33 years after graduation, we are still friends. We even took a trip to Atlantic City to celebrate our 50^th birthdays. 

Did you play sports in high school? If yes, which one(s) and how did it work out for you? If not, do you have children who play sports?

I played basketball and track & field. I think playing sports is a great character builder. Though back when I played in the late 70’s/early 80’s, Title IX had just been passed and its effects didn’t filter down to us at that point. My son played ice hockey and it provided him with great leadership skills.

I'm using Pubslush, a global marketing platform that assists authors with pre-publication publicity and sales to help me build an audience for my next novel Swim Season. Do you have any marketing tips for authors?

First, do only what is fun or makes sense. For instance, I created a promotional 20-recipe eBook for my Fantasy Football Romance series, called Game Day Treats. If its an epic fail, that’s okay because I had a great time putting it together. I love doing book trailers too! Think about writing a series and plan accordingly. Readers LOVE series. If you can get a BookBub ad, do it! Ereader News Today is great too and not as expensive.

Can you tell us about your latest project?

The Quarterback Sneak will be releasing on December 2 and is available for preorder. It's the fourth book in my Fantasy Football Romance series.

Where can we learn more about you and your books? 

You can learn more about me and my books at the following links:

Amazon Author Page

Website

Blog   

Twitter

Facebook

Pinterest

Goodreads

The Wives of Fantasy Football Romance Blog

Email: elizabethmatis@gmail.com

Thanksgiving Day Guest Author: Peggy McAloon

Peggy was born in a small farming community in southeastern Iowa. She began piano lessons when she was only five and was playing the organ for church services when she was nine. She attended the University of Northern Iowa where she met her husband. Her career in commercial credit included being a speaker, trainer, and national sales manager. She wrote and published “The Art of Business Credit Investigation” in the ‘90’s and has been a contributor to numerous magazines and newspapers throughout her career. 

Peggy and her husband are both now retired and living in Wisconsin where she is active in water conservation efforts. The couple loves to travel and have taken two shelter dogs into their home in the past two years. Peggy has been an avid reader since childhood and reads all genres. “Books are the perfect escape when life becomes a bit sticky!” She is an avid spokesperson for the protection and safety of children, making that the central focus of this year’s release of Elle Burton and the Reflective Portals. Her own struggles with abuse, disability, and depression allow her to connect with her target audience to help them find hope in a world they often feel is hopeless. 

Welcome to Adventures in Publishing Peggy  and thanks for helping me with the Swim Season Pubslush campaign. To get started I thought I'd ask you a couple of questions about high school and sports, since that's what the book is about, and then we'll move on to your marketing tips for authors and your book projects. At the end of our interview Peggy has a very special gift or all of you.

Thank you so much for inviting me to visit your site Marianne. Elle Burton and the Reflective Portals - Lessons from Fiori is the first book in a coming of age fantasy series about a young girl who is enticed by winged creatures from another dimension to help them protect the children of Earth.

Records indicate that nearly six million children are abused in this country every year. Whatever we’re doing isn’t working. I became committed to the idea of writing a series of books for kids to inspire them to ask for help if in trouble and to recognize when social injustices are affecting their friends. Elle is the kind of role model every parent wants their child to become as she stands up for her friends.

Most of us have strong feelings about our high school experience. Was yours a yay or a nay? Please explain.

My own school years were filled with successes and challenges. The bullying became less frequent in high school but the most popular girls made it very clear I was not an active part of the “inner-circle”. Instead of being invited to parties, I spent most of my time at home curled up on the sofa experiencing adventures far beyond my living room through the characters in the books I loved. I was active in choir, band, Stepperettes Dance Routine (never a cheerleader), theater, speech, and of course the piano and organ.

Did you play sports in high school? If yes, which one(s) and how did it work out for you? If not, do you have children who play sports?

I was never involved in sports. I had rheumatic fever when I was in first grade and the doctors would not allow me to go outside to play or even go to gym classes for years to protect my heart. As a result, my coordination is horrific to this day. I was always the last one to be picked when I reached junior high and was finally allowed to participate. I missed that important growth phase of developing motor control as a child. Those experiences encouraged my determination my own children would never be outsiders. They were urged to participate in any sport they were interested in. We lived in Minnesota at the time and ice hockey became the sport of choice for the boys. My oldest son’s greatest achievement was an article on the front page of the newspaper. It described him in 6^th grade when as goalie, he held the best team in our conference to only two goals in a final match. We still lost but for that one game he was a hero to everyone in town.

I'm using Publish to help build an audience for my next noel. Pubslush is a global marketing platform to assist authors with pre-publication publicity and sales. Do you have any key marketing tips for authors?

I had an extremely profitable launch of a business reference guide in the ‘90’s but the Elle book is my first novel. I wish I’d known about pubslush and other pre-launch tools like pre-release orders before my book was published. I became so buried in the edits, cover art, etc., that I did absolutely nothing before the book came out. My best solution is to find people who already have an established blog in your topic and do guest blogging. This allows you to take advantage of their readership. It takes far too long to build a following on a website if you don’t already have one built when your book is released. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start one slowly, but do devote more time to guest blogging as you build your new site for broader exposure.

Can you tell us about your latest project?

My author friends have not only been supportive but also an impressive force to keep me moving. They convinced me to sign up for NaNoWriMo this November. I’m writing a cozy mystery about a young reporter from Iowa. Jess Gantry is more like me than any character I have ever created. Since the book is in its infancy, I think the title will be “Secrets of the Lake” – A Jess Gantry book. All things are open to change as it goes thru editing and publishing.

Where can we learn more about you and your books? 

You can find me at www.peggymcaloon.com. 

My holiday gift to all of you is a free pdf download on my website during the month of December of Elle Burton and the Reflective Portals. (Parents, be sure to download the discussion sheet under the books tab on my website so you can help your own child understand and stand-up to the social injustices they see each day. Elle confronts bullying in the book and this is a topic that affects every family during a child’s school years.) Amazon also has the 276-page soft-cover book at a giveaway price of $1.99 for Christmas, but hurry, I don’t know how long it will stay that low.

You my purchase Elle Burton and the Reflective Portals on:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo 

Copies are also available on the Peggy's website.

Follow Peggy:

Peggy’s Facebook Author Page 

Amazon Author Page 

Twitter

Pinterest

Goodreads

Google+

LinkedIn

Twelve Ways to Reach Out to Caregivers During National Caregivers Appreciation Month

© Victorrustle | Dreamstime.com

November is National Caregivers Appreciation Month, and a great time to reach out to those providing care and help lighten their load.

Chances are you know someone caring for an ill or disabled loved one.

This could be due to an illness such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, cancer, stroke, or a variety of other conditions. Some provide live-in care, others visit daily or weekly, and some oversee care from a distance or care provided by hired aides or a nursing facility. 

No matter how the caregiver performs his or her role, caregiving is a tough job, requiring resources that are often scarce: time, money, support, and assistance.

The CDC tells us that more than 34 million unpaid caregivers provide care to someone age 18 and older who is ill or has a disability, and an estimated 21 percent of US households are impacted by caregiving responsibilities.

Almost all of this work is unpaid, typically provided by family members, and often performed around the clock with no breaks. In addition, many caregivers juggle other responsibilities such as jobs, raising children, and managing their own households.

Caregiving is a common theme in my work. As a nurse, I've had a lot of experience working with caregivers and feel their stories are important to share. In my novel  Blue Hydrangeas, my hero Jack Harmon is caring for his wife with Alzheimer's. My short story Ino's Love is about an elderly woman and her home health aid sharing a Christmas dinner. My work-in-progress Swim Season is about a teenage girl wishing she'd been a better caregiver to her mom suffering from PTSD, drug addiction, and depression after two tours of duty in the Middle East. Caregiving themes are important. I have great respect and empathy for these selfless people who often go about their work quietly and unnoticed. I try to reflect that in my stories.

In honor of National Caregivers Appreciation Month and Thanksgiving, I'm offering Blue Hydrangeas at a deep discount on Amazon, iBooks, Nook, and Kobo through December 1st. My short story Ino's Love is free on Amazon November 24-27.

In recognition of those who work tirelessly and selflessly to care for a loved one, here are twelve ways to reach out to caregivers to offer assistance and let them know you care. These people need support and often that support doesn't cost much, if anything, and takes little time.

1. Ask if you can sit for them a little while so they can run errands, take a break, see the doctor, or attend church or a caregiver's support group, whatever they need to do to take care of themselves. 

2. Going to the grocery store? Call and ask if there's anything you can pick up for them. 

3. If your employer allows, donate paid sick time, vacation days, or personal time to a coworker caring for a relative who is hospitalized or needs post-hospital care.

4. Volunteer to mow the lawn, weed the garden, rake the leaves, shovel the snow.

5. Share the bounty, whether from your vegetable or your flower garden. Fresh produce and fresh flowers are cheerful.

6. If you have the skills and tools, offer to change the oil in their car and rotate the tires.

7. Again, if you have the skills and tools, offer to cut theirs and their loved one's hair.

8. Include them in your prayers.

9. Offer to walk their dog.

10. Ask if they'd like you to wash and clean out their car.

11. Volunteer to take out the trash and bring the barrels out to the curb on trash day.

12. Double cook a meal, preferably one of their favorites, and send over a dinner.

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.

Today's Guest Author is Allie Boniface

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 1^st 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 

Cocktail Cruise Buy Links: Pre-Order at AmazonPre-Order at Barnes & NoblePre-Order at ApplePre-Order at Kobo  See my spotlight interview on Allie's blog for Writers' Wednesday

Thursday Guest Author: Krysten Lindsay Hager

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. Each week throughout the campaign I'll introduce a different one 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.

###

Today's guest is Kristen Lindsay Hager

Krysten Lindsay Hager is an author and book addict who has never met  a bookstore she didn't like.  She's worked as a journalist and also writes middle grade, YA, humor essays, and adult fiction.  True Colors is her bestselling debut novel from Astraea Press. She is originally from Michigan and has lived in South Dakota, Portugal, and currently resides in Southern Ohio, where you can find her reading and writing, She received her master's in American Culture from the University of Michigan-Flint.

Welcome to Adventures in Publishing Krysten and thanks for helping me with the Swim Season Pubslush campaign. To get started I thought I'd ask you a couple of questions about high school and sports, since that's what the book is about, and then we'll move on to your marketing tips for authors and your book projects.

1.  Most of us have strong feelings about our high school experience. Was yours a yay or a nay? Please explain.

I loved high school. Middle school not so much, but high school was great. I met some great friends there—most of which I’m still friends with today. Middle school felt more repressive, while I felt like I could be myself more in high school.

2.  Did you play sports in high school? If yes, which one(s) and how did it work out for you? If not, do you have children who play sports?

I didn’t play on any teams, but my friend Laura and I used to play tennis all the time. Truth be told, we followed each tennis session off with a trip to Dairy Queen.

3. Pubslush is a global marketing platform to assist authors with pre-publication publicity and sales. Do you have any key marketing tips for authors?

I think the best tip is to pick one or two things that you’re good at and come naturally to you. If you’re more introverted then social media might not be the best for you, but maybe guest blogs or posting informational articles. If you are more social, then Instagram or Twitter may work for you.

4.  Can you tell us about your latest project?

I recently finished writing the sequel to True Colors and signed a contract for it. It’s tentatively titled: True Colors 2 (The Landry Series): Best Friends…Forever? I am looking forward to working with the editors on that next and also I have a rewrite of an adult novel I’m working on…I think that rewrite might be plotting against me though!

Here's a sneak peek at True Colors:

Every day I walked down the sidewalk to school and wished I were one of the interesting popular girls who ran up with exciting news. Just once I’d like to be one of those girls instead of the being the one who didn’t get invited to things because people “forgot” about me.

Landry Albright just wants to be one of the interesting girls at school who always have exciting things going on in their lives. She wants to stand out, but also wants to fit in, so she gives in when her two best friends, Ericka and Tori, push her into trying out for a teen reality show modeling competition with them. Landry goes in nervous, but impresses the judges enough to make it to the next round. However, Ericka and Tori get cut and basically "unfriend" her on Monday at school. Landry tries to make new friends, but gets caught up between wanting to be herself and conforming to who her new friends want her to be. Along the way she learns that modeling is nowhere as glamorous as it seems, how to deal with frenemies, a new crush, and that true friends see you for who you really are and like you because of it.

Excerpt:

The competition was for girls between the ages of thirteen and seventeen, but it felt like Ericka,Tori, and I were the youngest ones there. I only saw a couple of girls from school, and the lineup looked more like something you’d see on a music video set. All the girls were gorgeous, and they had these curvy womanly bodies. I looked like a skinny little kid next to them. The first girl walked out, and I heard the judges say she “owned the runway,” and, “walked like a gazelle.” I was starting to feel ill. I wasn’t sure which way it was going to come, but I knew I had to find a bathroom — fast. I started to get out of line when Ericka grabbed my wrist.

“It’s almost time,” she said. A tiny bit of spit flew out of her mouth and hit my cheek.

I wasn’t sure why she was so intent on me going through with it, but she had a death grip on my arm, so I didn’t have much of a choice. Her number was called and she walked out to the stage. One of the other girls said she walked like a kid with sand bucket stilts on her feet, but she came back with a smirk on her face like she knew she’d get chosen.

“They said they had never seen such long legs,” she said.

Tori was next.

“She walks like a gorilla at feeding time,” said the girl behind me.

I went next, and I tried to focus on not tripping over my feet. My mom’s pumps had a rubber sole on the bottom, which probably wasn’t the brightest idea seeing as my shoes were making squeaking noises as I walked. I was so nervous I couldn’t stop smiling as I walked. I looked like the plastic clown who blows up balloons with its mouth at the Pizza Palace. When I got to the end of the runway, I tried to cross my feet to turn like the other girls had, but I over rotated and ended up doing a full spin which made my kilt fan out and gave the mall walkers a view of my blue underpants. I tried to act like it was intentional and did an extra turn. One of the judges put her hand up to stop me, and I held my breath as she started to speak.

5.  Where can we learn more about you and your books?

You can learn more about me and my books by visiting:   

My Website

Facebook

Twitter 

Pinterest

Instagram

Goodreads

Book Trailer

Google+

Amazon author profile

You may purchase True Colors at:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble 

iTunes

Kobo

Smashwords

Amazon UK

You can find out how I answered my own questions on Krysten's blog right here.