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book promo Reblogs

Authors and bloggers, don’t miss these opportunities to appear in Sally Cronin’s blog

via Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Getting to Know you, here, there and everywhere – Guest contributors and Social Media update. | Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life

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Reblogs

Smorgasbord Short Stories Lit Fest- June 9th – 12th -Storytellers wanted – Sally at the #Bloggersbash | Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life

If you’re a writer of short stories, you shouldn’t miss this opportunity from Sally Cronin!

If you have not heard, I am packing my bags, polishing my dancing shoes and working with weights to get my arms hugging fit.  I am off on June 9th to London so that I can finally attend one of the …

Source: Smorgasbord Short Stories Lit Fest- June 9th – 12th -Storytellers wanted – Sally at the #Bloggersbash | Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life

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Interviews Reblogs

Interview with International Bestselling Author Enrique Laso – BabelsΒοοκ

I wanted to share this interview with a Spanish author whose work I’ve translated into English and reviewed, and whom I had the pleasure to meet in person at Literania, recently. A fabulous writer and human being. I hope I’ll work with him again in the future.

Hello – I’m Laura Martín.  Do you remember “The Advantages and Disadvantages of Being an Indie Author”?  That’s me.  Now, […]

Source: Interview with International Bestselling Author Enrique Laso – BabelsΒοοκ

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Book reviews Reblogs Rosie's Book Team Review

#Bookblogger bashing: in the end, you’re only hurting yourself #MondayBlogs | Rosie Amber

Terry Tyler, author and reviewer extraordinaire, visits Rosie’s blog with a perfectly timed post about authors who can’t take a reviewers opinion and turn nasty.

Today I’m hosting a post written by Terry Tyler which I feel strongly about as well. #Bookblogger bashing: in the end, you’re only hurting yourself. I’ve read a few posts lately ab…

Source: #Bookblogger bashing: in the end, you’re only hurting yourself #MondayBlogs | Rosie Amber

Categories
Giveaway Holidays

Holiday #Giveaway. Get a #KindleFire and 56 e-books to get you going. (If you’re in the US) Thanks, Elizabeth Marx (@emarxbooks) for organizing it!

WETWEET2PROMOBAN2

Hi all:

The holiday season is fast approaching and to celebrate, I want to bring you a giveaway I’m taking part in. As I’ve mentioned before in quite a few occasions (yes, I know I’m a bore), I belong to a number of author groups, and one of the authors in one of them, Elizabeth Marx , suggested organising a giveaway, where we would not only be giving a Kindle Fire away, but also sending a lucky winner our books for free (56 books in fact).

I wondered about trying to list all the books, but I thought you could have a look at some of them here

WETWEET2 PROMO1

What do you have to do to take part in this wonderful giveaway and have an option to get the Kindle Fire with books by: Elizabeth Marx, Theresa Snyder, Olga Núñez Miret, Laura Taylor, Lisa Gillis, Tima Maria Lacoba, Jerrie Alexander, Sarah Jane Butfield, Dawn Torrens, Lynn Mattheynssens, Tamara Ferguson, Lisa Calell, J.J. Ellis, Nicole Morgan, Kristine Cayne, Bridgette Lesley and Susanne Leist?

Well, it couldn’t be more simple! You go here:

goo.gl/5UoUC5

And sign up to get newsletters with information and freebies from the authors. And after Christmas, a winner will be picked at random from all the entries.

There’s a caveat, though. Due to expenses of sending it, only residents in the US will be eligible to get the Kindle. Sorry, I can’t participate either!

As you see, the giveaway is open from the 26th of November to the 28th of December.

WETWEET2GA1

If you’re curious, I’m giving all my novel-size books away, including my single volume collection of the Angelic Business books that will be available from the 15th of December. If you’d be interested in getting copy for your very personal giveaway, and you can’t participate in the main giveaway due to location, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.  (Warning:  I might still ask you to sign up for my e-mail list if you don’t mind). 

Angelic Business. The Complete Trilogy by Olga Núñez Miret. Cover by Lourdes Vidal
Angelic Business. The Complete Trilogy by Olga Núñez Miret. Cover by Lourdes Vidal

Thanks to Elizabeth for organizing the giveaway, thanks to all the authors for taking part, thanks to you for reading, and you know what to do, share, like, comment and of course, CLICK!

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Help! Writing

Writers, what do you think about paid ads and blog tours? Readers, what do you think about paid ads and blog tours?

Hi all:

As all of you who read my blog every so often will know, I try to regularly write and publish books. I’ve also mentioned that my next W.I.P. is a series of NA novels Angelic Business. The three novels are now written and I’m in the process of translating them and revising (and let’s not forget the issues of finding covers, descriptions, blurbs…) them. By the way, if closer to the time when the project is ready people are interested in reading the first one of the novels ahead of publication, just let me know and I’ll happily send it to you in exchange for a comment (unless you hate it, then I might have to…not sure what. I’ll ask one of my friends who write horror novels for suggestions).

Angel in Montjuic cemetery, Barcelona
Angel in Montjuic cemetery, Barcelona

Those of you who are authors I’m sure have read tonnes of advice on having a marketing plan ahead of any publishing, the importance of having an author platform, building your presence in social media and all that blah, blah, blah. For what I see most of us try and follow that advice adapting it to our own abilities and personal style.

Although I’ve done quite a few of the things I’ve read about, there are some I have resisted to and I’m wondering about giving them a try (you know, so I can say I’ve tried it). I haven’t really tried paid advertising (I got my first book listed in a book club site and had an ad for a promo, both very low cost, with no results to speak of, and yes, now I know advertising your first book is unlikely to have much of an effect, but one lives and learns. Also tried a very low cost listing of my audio…not much to tell there either) or blog tours, and I was interested in knowing what you, my author friends who have tried them think of them. I’ve read about analytics and all that, so if you want to give me hard data, it will be welcome, but I’m more interested in personal experiences, gut feelings, and the ins and outs of things that only somebody who has tried can give. (I’m also fully aware that book genre, timing, style, and personal circumstances influence results, probably together with the phase of the moon, the energy of the pyramids and the leprechauns at work on that particular day). I have only participated in blog hops as a host, and I guess there will be differences between those the authors organise themselves, more or less informally, and those organised by a tried and tested company (or perhaps not…what is your experience?).

Another angel in Montjuic
Another angel in Montjuic

I know some sites like Bookbub are supposed to be the bees-knees, but I’m also aware of the difficulties in getting into it, the amount of reviews required, the price, and the fact that now big publishing companies are also using the service, so there are even fewer chances for the rest of us. But anything, anecdotal evidence, amazing discoveries, bitter disappointments, so-so results, will be welcome.

And I also would like to hear from readers who aren’t writers. How likely are you to buy books based on advertisements on book sites, blog tour posts or any other marketing strategies by authors not known to you? (And the offer about the book is also open to readers, of course).

If I get a “decent” amount of replies, I will collect them and do a follow-up post to share the collective “wisdom”. That’s a deal.

He's lost his wings. I wonder...
She’s lost her wings. I wonder…

And I thought I’d leave you with a bit of the beginning of the third book in my trilogy (Pink, Angel or Demon?), where the main character, Pink, is wondering why everything that’s going on is happening to her:

All this is very well and good (not really, but you know what I mean), but nobody had bothered to answer why me. There was some kind of prophecy (or what passes for it in celestial and demonic circles) and I fitted in. One had to wonder where would prophecies come from in such spheres. (Or at least I did. I’ve been known to think far too much, and obeying De Bono, to think sideways. Look how far it’s got me!) I imagine somebody must fit in (and they were very insistent that I was the only one) but again, why me? No false modesty, but there isn’t anything that special about me. This is not one of these paranormal young adult books where the protagonist discovers that there’s a long history going back to the Middle-Ages of witches and special powers in her family. There’s no fay blood in my line, nobody I know regularly becomes a wolf or a dog or shifts shapes as far as I’m aware. And although the world is full of bloodsuckers, I’ve met no official vampires yet. I’ve never seen a ghost, and I don’t live in a haunted mansion. And although recently demons and angels wander around as if they were in season, to the best of my knowledge there’s no portal to the other world open in Hope Springs.

 

This one is a beauty
This one is a beauty

The draft of the first novel in the series Pink Matters is currently available in Wattpad, here. As mentioned in the body of the post, if you fancy getting the ready-to-publish version in a few weeks, just let me know and I’ll send it to you.

Thank you all for reading, and don’t forget to like, share, especially comment, and spread the word. And if you fancy clicking, don’t let me stop you!

I’ve carried on taking pictures of angels and other interesting things in cemeteries, so if you like any of them in particular, let me know. I’m after ideas for the covers!

Not an angel but she's so beautiful
Not an angel but she’s so beautiful