My Pubslush Campaign is Successfully Funded

My Swim Season Pubslush campaign is over. What a relief. This project definitely pulled me out of my comfort zone but it was an incredible learning experience. I'm disappointed I did not come even close to my goal but I will continue with the project and create a book worthy of the support I received: $523 from 13 supporters. I wish to thank those who made a financial contribution to the project: Kim Butterworth Adler, Ann Anzini, Carl Arcilesi, Inang L. Aziz-Antal, Jan Jan Beam, Maria Blon, Carina Blon, Marge Clairmont, Bernadette Colby, Gina Cote-Mielke, Beverly Guaraldi, Eleanor Sciucco, and Lou Sciucco. I appreciate your care, concern, and belief in me and Swim Season. Although closed for contributions, the Pubslush page will remain live and will continue to promote and market the project. Once I recover from this campaign I will write an analysis and decide whether or not it was worth the effort. Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Today's Guest Author: Dusty Lynn Holloway

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 is Dusty Lynn Holloway

Dusty lives in California with her two children who keep her very busy. She has superpowers, but doesn't like to talk about them, frequently bemoans the fact that she doesn't have See's Candy stock, thinks taking care of yourself is a way of life and not just a fad, and tries to live each day with the motto that you only get one life to live, so live it well, and live it to the fullest.

As an avid watcher of movies and reader of books, she frequently considers herself a ninja (especially around spiders), wishes that the owners of the beach house she loves would just give her the keys already, and really wants the car Kit from Knight Rider to be tucked snugly in her garage. She doesn't think he'd mind being painted blue. She writes a fantasy romance series with a paranormal twist. Her titles are Dragon Dreams, Dragon Ties, and Dragon Light. Welcome to Adventures in Publishing Dusty, and thanks for helping me with the Swim Season Pubslush campaign. To get started I thought I'd ask you about high school and sports, since that's what my book is about, and then we'll move on to your writing and book projects.

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

I had a different experience, I suppose. For most of high school I worked from home, and turned in assignments once a week. It worked better for me because I was able to avoid the noise that always was such a distraction to me in regular high school. Once I was able to eliminate that, my grades improved dramatically. 

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 anything in high school, but I have two children who love gymnastics. :)

I'm using Pubslush to help market and promote my next book. Do you have any key marketing tips for authors?

There is a lot of 'noise' in marketing. One of the best pieces of advice I have is to write well and keep at it. Often, for new writers, they are disappointed in slow (or completely absent!) sales of their first book, but book marketing is a build experience, and it often takes time. Many authors say that they started to see their sales take off only after publishing several books, and several years of hard work. 

Can you tell us about your latest project?

My latest project is a funny, time-travel Victorian romance called To Dance in the Shadows. It has a horse that thinks he's a dog, and is completely absurd, a man that everyone fears, and a women who, despite recent difficulties and pains, always tries to see the bright side of things, and always seems to find herself in trouble. Drake, Gwen and Paladin have been wonderful for me to bring to life, and I'm looking forward to people getting to know them in the near future. 

Where can we learn more about you and your books?

You can find me on quite a few social media sites. I look forward to connecting with everyone!  Thank you for inviting me to be a part of this blog, and I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. :)

Follow Dusty Lynn:

Twitter

Facebook 

Pinterest page for my dragon series

Pinterest page for my Victorian time-travel romance

Amazon author page

Purchase Dusty Lynn's books:

Dragon Dreams 

Dragon Ties

 Dragon Light

About Dragon Dreams 

A prophecy of murder.

An elf hunted by dragons.

One man that risks everything to save her. 

Nachal is a human that should not be having prophetic Dragon Dreams. But he does. Every night he dreams of an elf running through flames, trying in vain to outrun the Rebel Dragon Obsidian. Every night he sees her fall. Sees her eyes close. Feels her heart as it slows, and then stops. Every night, through the connection of the dream, he dies with her. It's a spiral that he can't control, and it's slowly driving him insane. Auri is an elf raised by a powerful human king not of her own blood. Left behind by the mother who perished far from the elven isle El`dell, she seeks to forge her life among the humans. Her journey takes her to the land of her heritage. To a place that holds both a haunting betrayal, and a miracle that just might save her life. Together, they become embroiled in a conspiracy where destinies are intertwined, love is born in the fallout of ultimate sacrifice, and the only path to victory lies through the searing flames of dragon fire.

***Dragon Dreams is rated PG13 for thematic violence. There is no sex, swearing, or vain names. Recommended for readers 14 and up.

Today's Guest Author: Lia London

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 Lia London.

Lia London grew up in a house full of books and teachers. Actually, she grew up in many homes, traveling to dozens of states and countries in Europe by the time she reached high school. Once settled in Oregon, she became a teacher and freelance script writer. She now home schools, leads a youth group at her church, and writes whenever she finds a free hour. Lia is also the creator and curator of Clean Indie Reads, home of flinch-free fiction, the best ever data base for clean books written by independent authors.

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

My high school experience was kind of a mixed bag. I went to a very rich school where kids drove BMWs, yet I lived on the street between K-mart and the State Penitentiary in a tiny apartment with my single mom. For that reason, I always felt sort of awkward. I was definitely not in the “in” crowd.  At the same time, I excelled in music and English, earning a lot of respect within those departments.  It was almost as if I lived in two high schools: the one where I was a leader and admired, and the one where I was a nobody.  Over all, though, I’m glad I went where I went.  It was an excellent school academically, and I had opportunities there that many other schools did not provide.

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 in high school although I had been into sports during grade school.  Because of aforementioned economic issues, I did not have the funds to pay for a lot of the sports stuff fees, and my mother worked full time and couldn’t shlep me to and from practices and games (like they did in the old days).  Prior to that time, though I had been an MVP on my school basketball team, a good volley ball player, and had just made the soft ball team when I broke my leg in a bike accident and had to find something else to do after schools. I chose choir, and that sort of changed my emphasis for the next several years.

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’m certainly no great success story in that end, but the greatest thing I’ve done is to network with other authors.  In addition to getting help “spreading the word”, I have learned from my indie colleagues about how to improve my craft and make my books more marketable in the first place.  I tend to be conservative in my online presence, focusing on Facebook and Twitter, but trying to make real connections there.

Can you tell us about your latest project?

My WIP, due out within a month, is about a first year high school English teacher who is pursued by a hunky colleague with a bad womanizing reputation. In an effort to dissuade him, she announces she’s married, which leads to all kinds of problems down the road when she actually likes someone else and can’t date him because, y’know, she’s married. Her Imaginary Husband is as much about teaching and high school life as it is about romance. Many of the school-related incidents in the story actually happened to me when I was teaching or a student myself. Those were happy times, full of laughter as well as some very poignant moments. I hope I can bring those things to life for my readers.

 Where can we learn more about you and your books?

Please visit my website for updates on books. I can be followed on Facebook (a personal account, so I don’t respond to every friend request), Twitter, and Clean Indie Reads.

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

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.

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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.