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.

Support Swim Season with Thunderclap

LET'S GET LOUD!! 

Help push my Swim Season Pubslush campaign toward its goal of $8,000.  

Donate your Tweet, Facebook or Tumblr post, on December 1 and join the roar. 

Thunderclap is the first-ever crowdspeaking platform that helps people be heard by saying something together. It allows a single message to be mass-shared, flash mob-style, so it rises above the noise of your social networks. By boosting the signal at the same time, Thunderclap helps a single person create action and change like never before.  

To add your voice please visit my Thunderclap campaign.

It Takes A Village to Publish a Book, or Something Like That - Crowdfunding Your Novel

Like so many writers, I wear many hats, one of which is called “Swim Mom.” I’ve shuttled my daughter to swim meets and swim practice for years, and now follow her across state lines during her college swimming career. All those hours sitting on cold, metal bleachers waiting to watch her swim for a minute or two gave me more than a sore you-know-what: It inspired me to write a novel about girls’ varsity swimming. I hope to publish Swim Season in Spring 2015.

Obviously this is a project near and dear to my heart - my child inspired it; it's about a sport that's a big part of our lives.  Yes, this book means a lot to me - and to many of the swimmers and swim parents I've talked to about it. I don't want to take any chances on it not being the best it can be. I want it to look professionally produced. I plan to make it available to readers on every reading platform out there: digital, audio, and paperback. I've got big plans. 

So I decided to do something different to ensure its success. But before I tell you about it, I thought I’d bring up a sensitive subject, one I suspect most readers don’t give much thought to: the costs involved in successfully bringing an independently published book to market.

Publishing a book yourself or having a professional publishing house do the job for you are two very different things. 

When a publisher buys the rights to publish an author’s book, they absorb the costs involved. They may also give the author an advance against royalties, which is a nice bucket of money to compensate her for the time and effort involved in completing the project through the publishing process.

When an author does it herself, she incurs the expenses, and there’s no advance. The author basically works for nothing, waiting for the day when her book is for sale and begins to pay for itself. 

Although most authors might say they write for the joy of it, I think the bulk of them would agree that it’s nice to be compensated for their work. 

It’s said the average indie author spends about $4,000 to publish a book. Some may spend as little as a couple of hundred bucks while others have been known to invest upwards of $20,000.  Where does the money go? 

Obviously a writer needs basic tools – a computer (or someone to type the manuscript into a computer), paper, ink, and internet service for research and reaching out to the book world through social media.  Electricity.  Office space.

Other expenses include editorial services. A smart author will run her manuscript through many sets of professional eyes before publishing it: content editing, conceptual editing, copy editing, and proofreading.

And if she doesn't possess the skills herself, she needs someone to design a book cover (front and back for a print copy) and format it for uploading to ebook and print publishers. 

International Standard Book Numbers (ISBN’s) must be purchased for every edition (paperback, Kindle, nook, iBooks, etc.) unless the author chooses to use those supplied by the publishers. I don't.  It's just one more way for me to maintain control over my product.

She may purchase print copies in bulk to use as advance reading copies for reviewers, or prizes for giveaways and contests to gain reviews and build an audience.  She will also want a supply on hand to sell direct to readers at book events, book signings, and other venues.

Once the book is available for purchase she has advertising and marketing expenses, and may hire a publicist if funds allow.  She may print promotional materials such as book marks and postcards to hand out at events. There are travel expenses related to these events.

This list, though long, may be incomplete as individual authors may have other expenditures particular to their project and preference in publishing. But, as you can see, there are a lot of expenses in publishing a book.

How does all of this relate to Swim Season? I recently launched a pre-publication campaign through Pubslush, a marketing platform much like Kickstarter and Indiegogo dedicated exclusively to books, to help provide the start-up funds necessary to publish, distribute, and market this project.  Pubslush offers crowdfunding and a way to collect pre-orders, and enables me to test the waters for this book and build an audience. Many authors have found success with this method.  Here’s one author’s story.

Readers benefit from Pubslush as well, because it gives them the opportunity to discover new authors and new books they might enjoy before publication, and allows them to partner in the process, to support these authors on their journey toward project completion. 

Please take a moment to check out my Pubslush page  where you can read the first chapter of Swim Season and watch a short video about the project. Then please join my team. You don’t even have to get wet.  I've come up with some great incentives for my supporters: undying gratitude, free books, iPod Nano's loaded with the book's soundtrack, an opportunity to name a character whatever you'd like, and your name added to a list of supporters in the acknowledgements at the back of the book. 

After you've joined, you can continue to be a part of this project by sharing this post and links to the campaign with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, or wherever you hang out online. 

Thank you for considering supporting this project.

Thursday Guest Author: Hopeless Romantic Shanna Hatfield

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. Every Thursday 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 author is Shanna Hatfield

A hopeless romantic with a bit of sarcasm thrown in for good measure, Shanna is a bestselling author of sweet romantic fiction written with a healthy dose of humor. In addition to blogging and eating too much chocolate, she is completely smitten with her husband, lovingly known as Captain Cavedweller. 

Shanna creates character-driven romances with realistic heroes and heroines. Her historical westerns have been described as “reminiscent of the era captured by Bonanza and The Virginian” while her contemporary works have been called “laugh-out-loud funny, and a little heart-pumping sexy without being explicit in any way.” She is a member of Western Writers of America, Women Writing the West, and Romance Writers of America. 

Shanna wants to invite you to her Cowboys and Christmas Blog Tour, a fabulous Facebook party, and a few contests where you can win some great prizes. She also has a free book for you. Welcome Shanna! And thank you for visiting my blog!

Welcome to the

Cowboys & Christmas

Blog Tour!

 

A kickoff of two new holiday romances by Shanna Hatfield
and a fundraiser for the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund

Interview with Shanna Hatfield

Shanna joins us to talk about new holiday romances, a fundraiser, and to answer a few questions. 

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

Somewhere between the two. I did well academically and enjoyed most of my classes, but I was a shy, introverted wallflower, not a social butterfly. On top of that, I lived on a farm fifteen miles out of town so there wasn’t a lot of opportunity to hang out after school with other kids even if I wanted to.

Did you play sports in high school?

Me? Play sports? (Laughing) The combination of being painfully shy and accident-prone didn’t bode well for a high school sports career. And there was that whole living out in the country thing with long bus ride to contend with. My husband, Captain Cavedweller, made up for my lack of athletic ability during his high school years. He played football and wrestled, although I never watched him in action since we didn’t meet until the year I graduated from college.

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

You can’t do every single social media site or join every group people recommend. Find two or three that feel like a good fit and immerse yourself in those. Build relationships first and the rest will fall into place.

Can you tell us about your latest project?

I’d love to! Today, my new historical holiday romance, The Christmas Calamity releases. It’s the third book in my Hardman Holiday series. All your readers are invited to join in the party today on Facebook where we’ll have guest authors, fun games and great giveaways. This week also kicks off a campaign I’m doing to raise funds and awareness for the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund. I first learned about the JCCF when I wrote the first book in the Rodeo Romance series, The Christmas Cowboy. The second book in the series, Wrestlin' Christmas, is recently released, just in time for the holiday season. In addition, I just sent the first book in a brand-new series to the proofreaders. The historical romance is set in 1890 about a rancher who inherits far more than he imagined when his brother passes away in England. Look for Crumpets and Cowpies in January!

Where can we find your books?

My books are available at: Amazon | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | Apple

  Start the Rodeo Romance Series with The Christmas Cowboy.

Kindle | Paperback | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | Apple | Audible

Travel back to a different time with the historic Hardman Holiday Series,

beginning with The Christmas Bargain.

Kindle | Paperback

Now through Dec. 24, Shanna will donate 10 percent of the net proceeds from all book sales to the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund. The JCCF is a non-profit organization that assists rodeo athletes who’ve sustained catastrophic injuries and are unable to work for an extended period.

Where can readers find you?

I love to hear from readers! Follow me online:

ShannaHatfield | Facebook | Pinterest | Goodreads | You Tube | Twitter

You’re Invited to PARTY!

You’re invited to join in the online Cowboys & Christmas Facebook Party today, Thursday, Nov. 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (PST). Drop in anytime during those four hours to enter to win great prizes, chat with guest authors, and more! Here’s the link to the party: http://tinyurl.com/cowboychristmasparty

The third book in the Hardman Holidays sweet Victorian romance series releases! The Christmas Calamity takes readers back to Hardman just in time for the holiday season. Preorders are available now for just $1.99 on Kindle. You can reserve your copy here: http://amzn.com/B00OGOO994

In addition, the first book in the Hardman Holidays series, The Christmas Bargain, is available for free Kindle downloads!

To enter the drawing for an Amazon gift card, autographed books, chocolates, original western artwork, and more fun goodies, fill out this form.

http://tinyurl.com/cowboychristmasprizes