The Street Smarts Marketing Blog is for speakers, trainers, authors, consultants and entrepreneurs who want to influence the lives of others with your knowledge through books, information products and presentations - and make lots of money doing it. Strong emphasis on gaining visibility, market reach and credibility through effective Internet marketing.
You have been invited to share your experience with our readers.
Name: Nikki Leigh
1. Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
I’m from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. I started writing when I was a kid in school. But, I didn’t get serious about getting back to my writing until about 15 years after I graduated. A woman suggested that I read The Artists’ Way and that helped me to overcome so many personal concerns and doubts. At that time I joined an online writers’ community and I dove back into honing my craft. In 2005, I was in a position to make a career change and I decided to dive into freelancing fulltime. That has allowed me to work on a wide variety of writing projects and it led to four business books and seven ghostwriting projects. This is in addition to my fiction books which are in print. When I’m not writing, I work with my business clients to do bookkeeping, promotional work and business consulting.
2. What inspired you to write your first book?
I started to form an idea for a book over twenty years ago and finally got back to work on it in late 2002. The story was coming together, but I couldn’t figure out the right place to set the story. In 2001, I visited Cape Cod which was my first idea for a setting. On the same trip, I visited Cape Ann, Massachusetts and that’s when the story really took shape. Since then I’ve released 2 other books set in that area and I’m working on the fourth Misty Cove book.
3. How many books have you written?
I have four novels in print, four business books in print. My first anthology, one novel is being re-released after some changes and my first author promotion book is being released this fall. I’ve created a writer’s resource ebook which I plan to release in October. In my freelancing work, I’ve ghostwritten seven books – five promotional books, a novel and a restaurant management book. One of my recent freelancing clients is talking about putting my name as a co-author on the book I wrote for him.
4. How do you decide on their topic?
My business topics and ghostwriting topics were based on my business and promotional experience. I use that experience to choose the projects I want to work on. All of my novels are centered near the coast and lighthouses. I enjoy history, the coast, lighthouses and the lifesaving service, so I work these topics into my novels.
5. What works best to keep you focused and on track?
Deadlines and the desire to see the project completed are two great ways to stay focused. With my freelancing, bills coming due also keeps me focused to finish projects.
6. Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
I tell people that my fiction is a labor of love. At some point, I’d love for my fiction to pay better, but I’m still building readership and visibility at this point. Although my promotional launch for my Cape Hatteras mystery has helped to propel my sales in the last few months. My business and promotional books are more about making money since my freelancing keeps the bills paid. My author promotion book is a combination of the love of writing and making money. It’s an awesome chance to share the things I’ve learned over the last 16 years in promotional work.
7. What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
I have an extensive website which features information about each of my books, the settings, the characters and much more. It also has writing and promotional articles for writers and readers. I’ve attended some writer’s events and have held a number of online chats. I send press releases about my books and special events. I’ve got several online message boards that I use to promote my books. I offered to moderate a panel at the Virginia Festival of the Book which helped me meet a lot of people and I had a chance to brainstorm with Dr Bill Bass (of the body farm) and Jeffrey Deaver. In October, I’m scheduled with a couple of friends to do a workshop about setting development in stories. In the past, I’ve taught a series of character development classes that developed and I’m hoping to rework the classes to offer again in the near future.
8. What are some unique methods?
I’m the Self Promotion Topic Editor on www.inspiredauthor.com and this gives me good visibility. I’ve hosted a couple of chats for Inspired Author about writing related topics. When Lilah and the Locket was released, I planned a week at the beach (where the story is set) and I contacted my preferred businesses before the trip. I then visited these stores with the book and they are being sold in 7 stores along the Outer Banks of North Carolina. For more information, visit http://www.nikkileigh.com/lilah_launch1.htm.
A couple of years ago, I created a fundraising event for a local animal shelter and that’s where Lilah and the Locket began. Details are posted at: http://www.nikkileigh.com/pets_n_portraits.htm. Lilah and the Locket features a couple and their dog – the characters are based on a real couple and their dog. This was part of the Pets ‘n Portraits event and has opened up interesting ways to promote the book and they just asked if I’d like to write a sequel – of course I said “YES!” I formed an author co-op and we promote one another and the group. The website is www.readersstation.com.
9. Do you sell through a website?
I use my websites – www.nikkileigh.com, www.sandcconsulting.com and there are links from www.readersstation.com to my sale pages. My books are also available on Amazon, Borders, Abe Books and I promote that they can be ordered at any bookstore. The ebook versions of my books are available on many online ebook sale sites.
10. Do you plan on writing additional books?
Most definitely. I’m working on plans for my next two novels, three short stories and the next book in my author promotional series.
Nikki Leigh - Author
www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm
"Coastal Suspense with a Touch of Romance"
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Promotional Interview with Dr Barbara Holstein
Name: Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
I've been in private practice for 26 years in Long Branch , New Jersey with my husband, Russell Marc Holstein, Ph.D. I am a positive psychologist, having published my first book in this discipline, THE ENCHANTED SELF, A Positive Therapy, in l997. I focus on helping women be happy, and live meaningful, purposeful lives by reclaiming their talents, strengths and even lost potential. I have also been a school psychologist for over 25 years.
I have a comprehensive website and blog for women at http://www.enchantedself.com/ , a blog, THE ENCHANTED SELF on typepad and conduct seminars, lectures, teleclasses and workshops. I host Happiness, For Women Only, on www.internetvoicesradio.com and THE ENCHANTED SELF Magazine of www.ladybuglive.com
In July, 2007, my newest positive psychology book, The Truth, I’m Ten, I’m Smart and I Know Everything, was released. You will fall in love with the ten year old girl in this book, who has the courage and the wits to put into writing what every woman should remember about herself, her children and the truths that really matter.
What inspired you to write your first book?
I started to do case study research on women of all ages, about 18 years ago. The research documented that women have a greater capacity for happiness than they realize. I saw that they need encouragement to focus on ways to let happiness happen and even needed a name to name the state of well-being that is a happy state unique to each woman. I called this state THE ENCHANTED SELF(R) and found myself filled with passion to share my information with women so that they could celebrate and document the positive parts of themselves. I was filled with inspiration and that of course led to my first book is titled, THE ENCHANTED SELF, A Positive Therapy.
How many books have you written?
I have written 4 books and edited one other.
How do you decide on their topic?
I have continued my research on women and girls via documenting ways to improve happiness with my clients, and developing materials and techniques for achieving more happiness. Each book I write tackles a slightly different aspect of Happiness. RECIPES FOR ENCHANTMENT, The Secret Ingredient is YOU! does it through storytelling and journal writing. And DELIGHT does it through coming with me on a spiritual journey.. FEEL GOOD STORIES which I edited for Bernice Becker, who is my mother, is filled with the pure humor and happiness of being alive.
What works best to keep you focused and on track?
Definitely a project of some sort. For example, for THE TRUTH, I'm Ten, I'm Smart and I Know Everything! I am already working on the girl's version of the book-for ages 10-14, a Chinese version of the book for school children in China, which will include English and Chinese languages, and the sequel to this book which will take the girl from ages 11 to almost 14.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
I would like to say for both, but so far the love is winning out.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
I have used publicists, which has led to me being on many, many radio shows over the years. I also keep up a website, www.enchantedself.com and of course, have a blog, http://enchantedself.typepad.com/ I am often quoted in magazines. For example, I was recently interviewed for Time Magazine on the web at http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1631176_1630611_1...
What are some unique methods?
I have hosted a cable television show, entitled, THE ENCHANTED SELF which I have done as a service to the public, but which also has built my reputation and made people aware of my books. You can see some of these shows now on the web at http://www.enchantedself.com/tvandvideo.html
Do you sell through a website?
Yes I do, at www.enchantedself.com and of course on Amazon.
Do you plan on writing additional books?
Absolutely. As I mentioned above, the second book in the series about 'the girl' is already more than half written. It is coming along great!
Interview Presented by -
Nikki Leigh - Author
www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm
"Coastal Suspense with a Touch of Romance"
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
I've been in private practice for 26 years in Long Branch , New Jersey with my husband, Russell Marc Holstein, Ph.D. I am a positive psychologist, having published my first book in this discipline, THE ENCHANTED SELF, A Positive Therapy, in l997. I focus on helping women be happy, and live meaningful, purposeful lives by reclaiming their talents, strengths and even lost potential. I have also been a school psychologist for over 25 years.
I have a comprehensive website and blog for women at http://www.enchantedself.com/ , a blog, THE ENCHANTED SELF on typepad and conduct seminars, lectures, teleclasses and workshops. I host Happiness, For Women Only, on www.internetvoicesradio.com and THE ENCHANTED SELF Magazine of www.ladybuglive.com
In July, 2007, my newest positive psychology book, The Truth, I’m Ten, I’m Smart and I Know Everything, was released. You will fall in love with the ten year old girl in this book, who has the courage and the wits to put into writing what every woman should remember about herself, her children and the truths that really matter.
What inspired you to write your first book?
I started to do case study research on women of all ages, about 18 years ago. The research documented that women have a greater capacity for happiness than they realize. I saw that they need encouragement to focus on ways to let happiness happen and even needed a name to name the state of well-being that is a happy state unique to each woman. I called this state THE ENCHANTED SELF(R) and found myself filled with passion to share my information with women so that they could celebrate and document the positive parts of themselves. I was filled with inspiration and that of course led to my first book is titled, THE ENCHANTED SELF, A Positive Therapy.
How many books have you written?
I have written 4 books and edited one other.
How do you decide on their topic?
I have continued my research on women and girls via documenting ways to improve happiness with my clients, and developing materials and techniques for achieving more happiness. Each book I write tackles a slightly different aspect of Happiness. RECIPES FOR ENCHANTMENT, The Secret Ingredient is YOU! does it through storytelling and journal writing. And DELIGHT does it through coming with me on a spiritual journey.. FEEL GOOD STORIES which I edited for Bernice Becker, who is my mother, is filled with the pure humor and happiness of being alive.
What works best to keep you focused and on track?
Definitely a project of some sort. For example, for THE TRUTH, I'm Ten, I'm Smart and I Know Everything! I am already working on the girl's version of the book-for ages 10-14, a Chinese version of the book for school children in China, which will include English and Chinese languages, and the sequel to this book which will take the girl from ages 11 to almost 14.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
I would like to say for both, but so far the love is winning out.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
I have used publicists, which has led to me being on many, many radio shows over the years. I also keep up a website, www.enchantedself.com and of course, have a blog, http://enchantedself.typepad.com/ I am often quoted in magazines. For example, I was recently interviewed for Time Magazine on the web at http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1631176_1630611_1...
What are some unique methods?
I have hosted a cable television show, entitled, THE ENCHANTED SELF which I have done as a service to the public, but which also has built my reputation and made people aware of my books. You can see some of these shows now on the web at http://www.enchantedself.com/tvandvideo.html
Do you sell through a website?
Yes I do, at www.enchantedself.com and of course on Amazon.
Do you plan on writing additional books?
Absolutely. As I mentioned above, the second book in the series about 'the girl' is already more than half written. It is coming along great!
Interview Presented by -
Nikki Leigh - Author
www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm
"Coastal Suspense with a Touch of Romance"
Promotional Interview with Diana Laurence
1. Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
While I am best known as the author of the Soulful Sex anthologies of short erotic romance fiction, that is just a recent incarnation of myself as writer. You’ll laugh at the twists and turns of my writing hobby/career, which began when I was about ten years old when I started writing short stories and poetry. I even penned a silly musical puppet play called “Soggy Wheat” that did a tour of my grade school. When I was 13 I got a short story published in ‘Teen magazine (possibly the peak of my career!). In the four decades since then, my writing has included six novels (half for publication), a book of Lenten devotions, an article on how to make your own sports trading cards, and four years’ worth of a weekly ezine called “Hockey Snacks.” Over my byline there have been countless pieces long and short, published and unpublished, on everything from how to rebuild an old pipe organ, to a layman’s guide to Jungian psychology, to my six Soulful Sex anthologies, to my new paranormal romance, Bloodchained. Call me eclectic.
2. What inspired you to write your first book?
My first full-length book was a mainstream novel with religious themes called Christus Victor. It nearly found a publisher in the early 80s. At the time I was very about that ultimate rejection, but in hindsight, I can see the book was pretty awful stuff! LOL Anyway, I had been chomping at the bit to write a book since high school, but didn’t have anything much to say until that point in my life. I was 23 when I started to write Christus Victor, barely old enough to have enough life experience to write a novel, but I had run into some interesting people during and after college who provided good material.
3. How many books have you written?
Depending upon how you break them out (some of my ebooks have been grouped together for print release), about a dozen; four non-fiction and the rest fiction.
4. How do you decide on the topic of a book?
It’s always a balance between what you feel like writing and what your audience wants to read. It might surprise you to learn the market for a book on how to rebuild an old pipe organ is quite small, while the market for hot romance fiction is much larger. LOL Seriously, though...I got into writing my Soulful Sex series because I posted a couple of erotic stories online and started getting what was basically fan mail for them. When people actually beg you to write more of something, you are pretty motivated to produce it. But that said, within the framework of the genre, I have tried to write about characters and situations that inspire me. I like imaginative fiction--fantasy and science fiction--so I write more of those types of romance tales than I do of contemporary or historical.
5. What works best to keep you focused and on track?
Honestly, I have never had trouble being motivated to write. Barely a day has gone by in my last 40 years of life that I didn’t write something. I need to write like other people need to breathe and eat. Typically while I’m working on my main project, I’m also doing a lot of essay writing and marketing too. I do make a point of always having my next project in mind so that I don’t let the current one linger forever, and I have a timeline that I stick to quite carefully.
6. Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
I am fortunate to have a great “day job” that enables me to live quite well. I’m therefore free to write what and when I want, without the pressure of needing to do it for money. I love writing and I adore having readers. There is no greater thrill in the world to me than when my writing works for someone other than myself. That is why it occurred to me to do my current project.
Early in 2007, I had the idea that we now have the technology to make it possible for an author to create a work with input and feedback from readers. I thought, what could be more fun than involving a team of readers and fans in developing and writing a book? So I started the “Soulful Sex Partners Project.” Over 60 people signed up to participate, and it is with their invaluable help that I conceived and wrote my new novel, Bloodchained. This is the first time I’ve had the help and encouragement of readers during the writing process, and it has been an amazing experience. Please visit the Project’s official blog at www.soulfulsex-partners.blogspot.com to learn more.
7. What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
With today’s technology there are so many free and inexpensive ways to market your work. I started with a website and promoting myself as much as possible via the key romance sites, in interviews, reviews and essays. I have a newsletter and a blog. I have done chats, spoken at conventions, sent out press releases for web and print media, and done a bit of paid online and print advertising too.
8. What are some unique methods?
My “Soulful Sex Partners Project” is a completely new idea as far as I know. The nice thing about it from a marketing standpoint is that the book has word-of-mouth even before publication, a whole team of people who have taken ownership in the book and have an interest in its success. I also have had a lot of great luck with publishing a group of free ebooks that I sell via the Living Beyond Reality Press READ FREE Project, which introduces my writing to new readers every day. Less successful but certainly unique was my creation of a portrait gallery of all my characters and the production of a set of romance fortune telling cards based upon it.
9. Do you sell through a website?
I have my own Diana Laurence site (www.dianalaurence.com) with buy links that direct readers to online retailers that offer my books. It also directs them to my publishing site Living Beyond Reality Press (www.livingbeyondreality.com). The majority of my sales are via Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Powells Books.
10. Do you plan on writing additional books?
Is the Pope Catholic? Yes, of course, and I’m hoping the response to Bloodchained will be strong enough to justify a sequel, because I’d love to write one. So, to anyone reading these words, I hope you’ll click through to www.dianalaurence.com/bloodchained.html and read about this romantic and suspenseful new take on the vampire concept. There are no bats, crypts, or garlic-encrusted crosses in this book, but there is mystery, enthrallment, struggles between good and evil, and sexy blood-drinking. Check out the synopsis, read a sample chapter, and think about reading a book written by an award-winning, critically-acclaimed author with the assistance of a team of 60 enthusiastic readers and fans!
Interview Presented By -
Nikki Leigh - Author of Book Promo 101
www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm
"Coastal Suspense with a Touch of Romance"
While I am best known as the author of the Soulful Sex anthologies of short erotic romance fiction, that is just a recent incarnation of myself as writer. You’ll laugh at the twists and turns of my writing hobby/career, which began when I was about ten years old when I started writing short stories and poetry. I even penned a silly musical puppet play called “Soggy Wheat” that did a tour of my grade school. When I was 13 I got a short story published in ‘Teen magazine (possibly the peak of my career!). In the four decades since then, my writing has included six novels (half for publication), a book of Lenten devotions, an article on how to make your own sports trading cards, and four years’ worth of a weekly ezine called “Hockey Snacks.” Over my byline there have been countless pieces long and short, published and unpublished, on everything from how to rebuild an old pipe organ, to a layman’s guide to Jungian psychology, to my six Soulful Sex anthologies, to my new paranormal romance, Bloodchained. Call me eclectic.
2. What inspired you to write your first book?
My first full-length book was a mainstream novel with religious themes called Christus Victor. It nearly found a publisher in the early 80s. At the time I was very about that ultimate rejection, but in hindsight, I can see the book was pretty awful stuff! LOL Anyway, I had been chomping at the bit to write a book since high school, but didn’t have anything much to say until that point in my life. I was 23 when I started to write Christus Victor, barely old enough to have enough life experience to write a novel, but I had run into some interesting people during and after college who provided good material.
3. How many books have you written?
Depending upon how you break them out (some of my ebooks have been grouped together for print release), about a dozen; four non-fiction and the rest fiction.
4. How do you decide on the topic of a book?
It’s always a balance between what you feel like writing and what your audience wants to read. It might surprise you to learn the market for a book on how to rebuild an old pipe organ is quite small, while the market for hot romance fiction is much larger. LOL Seriously, though...I got into writing my Soulful Sex series because I posted a couple of erotic stories online and started getting what was basically fan mail for them. When people actually beg you to write more of something, you are pretty motivated to produce it. But that said, within the framework of the genre, I have tried to write about characters and situations that inspire me. I like imaginative fiction--fantasy and science fiction--so I write more of those types of romance tales than I do of contemporary or historical.
5. What works best to keep you focused and on track?
Honestly, I have never had trouble being motivated to write. Barely a day has gone by in my last 40 years of life that I didn’t write something. I need to write like other people need to breathe and eat. Typically while I’m working on my main project, I’m also doing a lot of essay writing and marketing too. I do make a point of always having my next project in mind so that I don’t let the current one linger forever, and I have a timeline that I stick to quite carefully.
6. Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
I am fortunate to have a great “day job” that enables me to live quite well. I’m therefore free to write what and when I want, without the pressure of needing to do it for money. I love writing and I adore having readers. There is no greater thrill in the world to me than when my writing works for someone other than myself. That is why it occurred to me to do my current project.
Early in 2007, I had the idea that we now have the technology to make it possible for an author to create a work with input and feedback from readers. I thought, what could be more fun than involving a team of readers and fans in developing and writing a book? So I started the “Soulful Sex Partners Project.” Over 60 people signed up to participate, and it is with their invaluable help that I conceived and wrote my new novel, Bloodchained. This is the first time I’ve had the help and encouragement of readers during the writing process, and it has been an amazing experience. Please visit the Project’s official blog at www.soulfulsex-partners.blogspot.com to learn more.
7. What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
With today’s technology there are so many free and inexpensive ways to market your work. I started with a website and promoting myself as much as possible via the key romance sites, in interviews, reviews and essays. I have a newsletter and a blog. I have done chats, spoken at conventions, sent out press releases for web and print media, and done a bit of paid online and print advertising too.
8. What are some unique methods?
My “Soulful Sex Partners Project” is a completely new idea as far as I know. The nice thing about it from a marketing standpoint is that the book has word-of-mouth even before publication, a whole team of people who have taken ownership in the book and have an interest in its success. I also have had a lot of great luck with publishing a group of free ebooks that I sell via the Living Beyond Reality Press READ FREE Project, which introduces my writing to new readers every day. Less successful but certainly unique was my creation of a portrait gallery of all my characters and the production of a set of romance fortune telling cards based upon it.
9. Do you sell through a website?
I have my own Diana Laurence site (www.dianalaurence.com) with buy links that direct readers to online retailers that offer my books. It also directs them to my publishing site Living Beyond Reality Press (www.livingbeyondreality.com). The majority of my sales are via Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Powells Books.
10. Do you plan on writing additional books?
Is the Pope Catholic? Yes, of course, and I’m hoping the response to Bloodchained will be strong enough to justify a sequel, because I’d love to write one. So, to anyone reading these words, I hope you’ll click through to www.dianalaurence.com/bloodchained.html and read about this romantic and suspenseful new take on the vampire concept. There are no bats, crypts, or garlic-encrusted crosses in this book, but there is mystery, enthrallment, struggles between good and evil, and sexy blood-drinking. Check out the synopsis, read a sample chapter, and think about reading a book written by an award-winning, critically-acclaimed author with the assistance of a team of 60 enthusiastic readers and fans!
Interview Presented By -
Nikki Leigh - Author of Book Promo 101
www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm
"Coastal Suspense with a Touch of Romance"
September Dawn by Carol Whang Schutter
Carole Whang Schutter was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. She graduated with a degree in Psychology from the University of Hawaii and is an evangelical Christian. Carole has been a motivational speaker to live audiences, and on TV and radio shows. She now occupies her time writing, skiing and hiking in Aspen. Her enduring interest in religion and passion for history led her to write “September Dawn,” her first screenplay written in collaboration with Director/Producer Christopher Cain which inspired the novel “September Dawn.” Currently, she is working on several screenplays, and a historical novel about her home state Hawaii.
You have been invited to share you experience with our readers.
1. Tell us about yourself - where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
I was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii and have always wanted to write. I “wrote” my first story at five and my first novel at thirteen. While in college, I wrote my second novel. It all went up in smoke while I was on my honeymoon. As this was back in the Atone Age before computers, I lost everything. Although I wrote another novel in my late twenties, life, marriage, children, divorce, and remarriage all got in the way. I went through a dry spell and didn't write for at least fifteen years. In the meantime, I led an amazing life. It was a life people dream of having and one people have nightmares about. It also gave me plenty of insight and plenty to write about.
I now live in Aspen where I ski and hike when I'm not writing.
2. What inspired you to write your first book?
The love of writing and a passion for stories.
3. How many books have you written?
If you count the ones that burned up and the ones I shelved, six or seven.
4. How do you decide on their topic?
Inspiration from God.
5. What works best to keep you focused and on track?
Writing late at night, when the phone isn't ringing, people aren't coming to the door. I need to have no distractions.
6. Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
For the love of writing.
7. What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
Hiring a publicist and a internet marketing expert.
8. What are some unique methods?
I had bookmarks made and while on a cruise to South America, passed them around. I found people wanted to talk about what I did and about my book. With my internet expert, we are working on giving freebies like the bookmarkers to anyone who buys my book. I am including a pdf file ebook of the screenplay which my novel is based on, a pdf file of something called a double blue line one line schedule which is the shooting schedule handed out everyday during the filming of a movie, in this case, September Dawn.
9. Do you sell through a website?
I have a website, http://www.cwschutter.com
10. Do you plan on writing additional books?
Absolutely. “The Ohana,” is a book I'm working on which I wrote thirty years ago and shelved it. Ohana means family in Hawaiian and it is a historical family saga about three immigrant families to Hawaii, Korean, Japanese, and Irish. The Great Depression, World War II, the Vietnam War, and the flower child generation frame the story of how these three families lives intertwine until they find the meaning of family. It is honest look at Hawaii. I hope it exposes the heart and soul of Hawaii without hiding the flaws. One of the side stories is how the “syndicate” which was the Hawaiian mafia, came into being.
I have also optioned another screenplay. It looks like it will go into production next year.
September Dawn -
“I didn’t choose love, it chose me.” Emily Hudson, on September 11, 1857.
Based on one of America’s most horrific, historical events, this is the story of an improbable romance between two nineteen-year-olds from starkly different worlds, Jonathan, the son of a Mormon bishop and Emily, the daughter of a Christian pastor. In a beautiful, pristine valley called Mountain Meadows, surrounded by an atmosphere of fear and hatred, Jonathan, tormented by the execution of his beautiful mother by a lecherous apostle, falls in love with beautiful, spirited Emily. Ordered to spy on the wagon train by his father, Jonathan tames a wild, magnificent black stallion and wins the heart of the girl who has captured his.
The Mountain Meadow massacre was an act so atrocious it was kept shrouded in secrecy for over a hundred years. Mormons, driven by a despotic Brigham Young who thunders chilling messages of Blood Atonement from the pulpit, commit polygamy, murder, and castration in the name of God. But unforgiveness and revenge cannot stop a love so great, it refused to die, or muzzle a story so amazing, it struggled to live. In the end, this is Jonathan’s story. In the midst of the massacre, Jonathan must choose between his brother and his faith, or Emily.
As Jonathan races to save Emily, the reader is left breathless with heart-pounding anticipation as the scope and magnitude of their love amidst the searing fire and ashes of the Mountain Meadow Massacre dramatically, and unforgettably, unfolds.
You have been invited to share you experience with our readers.
1. Tell us about yourself - where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
I was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii and have always wanted to write. I “wrote” my first story at five and my first novel at thirteen. While in college, I wrote my second novel. It all went up in smoke while I was on my honeymoon. As this was back in the Atone Age before computers, I lost everything. Although I wrote another novel in my late twenties, life, marriage, children, divorce, and remarriage all got in the way. I went through a dry spell and didn't write for at least fifteen years. In the meantime, I led an amazing life. It was a life people dream of having and one people have nightmares about. It also gave me plenty of insight and plenty to write about.
I now live in Aspen where I ski and hike when I'm not writing.
2. What inspired you to write your first book?
The love of writing and a passion for stories.
3. How many books have you written?
If you count the ones that burned up and the ones I shelved, six or seven.
4. How do you decide on their topic?
Inspiration from God.
5. What works best to keep you focused and on track?
Writing late at night, when the phone isn't ringing, people aren't coming to the door. I need to have no distractions.
6. Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
For the love of writing.
7. What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
Hiring a publicist and a internet marketing expert.
8. What are some unique methods?
I had bookmarks made and while on a cruise to South America, passed them around. I found people wanted to talk about what I did and about my book. With my internet expert, we are working on giving freebies like the bookmarkers to anyone who buys my book. I am including a pdf file ebook of the screenplay which my novel is based on, a pdf file of something called a double blue line one line schedule which is the shooting schedule handed out everyday during the filming of a movie, in this case, September Dawn.
9. Do you sell through a website?
I have a website, http://www.cwschutter.com
10. Do you plan on writing additional books?
Absolutely. “The Ohana,” is a book I'm working on which I wrote thirty years ago and shelved it. Ohana means family in Hawaiian and it is a historical family saga about three immigrant families to Hawaii, Korean, Japanese, and Irish. The Great Depression, World War II, the Vietnam War, and the flower child generation frame the story of how these three families lives intertwine until they find the meaning of family. It is honest look at Hawaii. I hope it exposes the heart and soul of Hawaii without hiding the flaws. One of the side stories is how the “syndicate” which was the Hawaiian mafia, came into being.
I have also optioned another screenplay. It looks like it will go into production next year.
September Dawn -
“I didn’t choose love, it chose me.” Emily Hudson, on September 11, 1857.
Based on one of America’s most horrific, historical events, this is the story of an improbable romance between two nineteen-year-olds from starkly different worlds, Jonathan, the son of a Mormon bishop and Emily, the daughter of a Christian pastor. In a beautiful, pristine valley called Mountain Meadows, surrounded by an atmosphere of fear and hatred, Jonathan, tormented by the execution of his beautiful mother by a lecherous apostle, falls in love with beautiful, spirited Emily. Ordered to spy on the wagon train by his father, Jonathan tames a wild, magnificent black stallion and wins the heart of the girl who has captured his.
The Mountain Meadow massacre was an act so atrocious it was kept shrouded in secrecy for over a hundred years. Mormons, driven by a despotic Brigham Young who thunders chilling messages of Blood Atonement from the pulpit, commit polygamy, murder, and castration in the name of God. But unforgiveness and revenge cannot stop a love so great, it refused to die, or muzzle a story so amazing, it struggled to live. In the end, this is Jonathan’s story. In the midst of the massacre, Jonathan must choose between his brother and his faith, or Emily.
As Jonathan races to save Emily, the reader is left breathless with heart-pounding anticipation as the scope and magnitude of their love amidst the searing fire and ashes of the Mountain Meadow Massacre dramatically, and unforgettably, unfolds.
Promotional Interview with Billie Williams
Your Name: Billie A Williams
1. Where you are from and where are you now? I’ve lived most of my life on the Michigan- Wisconsin Border with a brief residency in Colorado – the Four Corners Area and I currently live in Northern Wisconsin near the Michigan border again.
2. How did you get started writing? I always loved to read, so I guess it followed naturally that somewhere along the line I’d write the book I couldn’t find, or just that I’d have enough experiences that I thought others might enjoy that something sparked me to write about them. Which is exactly what happened in 1995 when a new friend showed me the book she was writing while I was living out in Bayfield, Colorado it was my signal. It was, if she could I sure could, and why hadn’t I thought to do it sooner? As they say, the rest is history.
3. What do you do when you are not writing? I am an organic gardener in the summer, but I also do all manner of crafts, knitting, crochet, sewing, quilting, rug hooking – and to relax I play the piano. I work part time again now so some days I’m at our local café doing dishes, or working in our small grocery store. Meeting people in these ways helps the loneliness and isolation a writer can succumb to in their writer’s cave just writing.
4. What would readers like to know about you? I love to hear from readers. I love to help aspiring writer’s get there wings. I have a bookclub where readers can get to read one chapter a week of a new novel in progress for free. I also have a free 5-week writer’s course both available from my website at http://billiewilliams.com I love what I do and I am open to an online chat, a guest appearance if you are near enough to my home – and any other venue where you would need an author, a writer, a reader to interact.
5. What inspired your first book? It was out in Bayfield Colorado where Death by Candlelight got its start. You might say this is a character driven book because it was a young girl I saw walking from what I guessed to be her apartment above a business place across an over grown field and railroad tracks to the buildings on the other block. I assumed she was going to the grocery store over there. She looked like a waif, a girl in trouble. I asked some ‘what if’ questions of her (in my mind but not in person to her), did a character sketch and began writing her story.
6. How many books have you written? At this time I have more than two dozen in print or as e-books. I have five more under contract to be released next year with half a dozen re-releases expected within the same time frame.
7. What are the titles of your books and what genres are they? Titles: Death by Candlelight, Candlelight and Shadows, Skull Music, The Pink Lady Slipper, Bed and Breakfast Murders, and Small Town Secrets are all Mystery Suspense. Watch For the Raven is a young adult historical adventure, Tung Umolomo, is an adventure/suspense. A Christmas Dream is a 3-Act play. A series of writing books Writing Wide, Exercises in Creative Writing; Characters in Search of an Author; Spice Up Your Writing! Write to Entice; {are currently published} Two Titles in the Works are Mystery, Muse and Manuscript, and Playing With Plays. Fire at Thunder Ridge currently out of print is being shopped around to be republished. I have several books out that the publishers have folded and these books are currently under contract with other publishers to be re-released next year. Those I won’t list here. Feather’s In The Wind, Meanderings Most Museful, are poetry books; Bed and Breakfast Murders Cook Book and Extras and The Golden Kettle Café Cookbook from Small Town Secrets are cookbooks that have recipes and more from the books they are attached to; Adrift is a book of essays, flash fiction and short stories; Magic Carpet Ride is a children’s book; and Wide Spaces is a booklet on writing. Irish Whiskey, Beyond the Shadows, Angeni, Great White Bull, Valentine Express are Romantic Suspense I’ve written under two pseudonyms, Cricket Sawyer and Logan Blue
8. How do you decide on that topic or genre? Actually, the ideas just find me. I could be reading a book, newspaper or magazine and an idea will jump out at me, or I could hear a name and I develop a character in my mind and the story begins. I think the genre decides itself too. I read a lot of mysteries so I suppose I am more apt to write them, but I also read tons of books on the craft of writing so I am drawn to writing them too. I love to try new things so I take courses online or by mail to increase my awareness of other genres I might want to try. I’m dipping my toe in the Romantic suspense genre now, I recently tried writing plays because it fascinated me and I had a book I thought would make a great movie – So I’ve tried my hand at adapting a friends novel to a 3-act play and I’ve begun adapting one of my novels to a screen play. I guess I’m a life time learner and I need to learn and try whatever I can.
9. How do you manage to keep yourself focused and on track? I have a writing schedule and I pretty much stick to it. I have recently decided to adopt a friend’s idea and curtail answering emails to certain days of the week as they can really eat into my writing time. I make a regular daily to do list – and try to write a new chapter a day on my works in progress. I also blog, write articles and work at promoting the books I already have out. So a schedule becomes more and more necessary if I intend to stay on top of things.
10. Do you write to make money or for the love of writing? A little of both. I need to make money in order to stay at home. But if I stay at home without being out in the workforce I’m afraid I’ll become narrow minded and run out of things to write about. So it’s sort of a catch twenty two. I can’t imagine not writing – I love it! But, I need to earn a living too.
11. What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used? Marketing – hear a large primal scream here… not something I enjoy doing or am good at. I normally send out postcards to announce a new release, I seek reviews for all my books constantly, visit and join groups that are of similar interest, write reviews for others, write articles and post them where I can as well as on my blogs, Which brings me to blogs as a means of getting my name out there – advertising and promotion. I maintain more than one web site, I manage a writer/reader group called Word Mage and I send a business card, post card in mail leaving my home, or like this past month a calendar planner Every piece of snail mail that leaves my house – that could be bills (the reason I don’t pay some of them on line) letters, Christmas Cards, whatever I send out gets some promo type piece inserted in the envelop. I’ve recently started a book club as mentioned earlier to allow readers to read a chapter a week of my novel in progress, instituted a 5-week writing course both of these are free, and I have two pages of free stuff on my websites so that readers can just grab something that strikes their fancy. I have made video trailers of my books as well as those of other authors and author jewelry makers/artists.
12. What are some unique methods of marketing you have used? I guess the blog or viral tour is new to me, though not necessary unique at this time. I think the bookclub read-a-chapter-a-week is one though Douglas Clegg and Stephen King have done similar things. Video trailers while not new but are pretty unique ways to display your wares so to speak. Joining social groups, marketing groups, and mystery groups on the social networks is quickly gaining popularity places like MySpace, FaceBooks, etc. are good marketing tools. I look for ways to help others, this I think is by far the best return on investment I’ve ever had.
13. Do you sell through a website? If so, what’s the address? If not, why not? Some of my books I do – with my webstore at http://lulu.com/Billie others like the books from my Wings Publisher it is not feasible though I could supply a link to purchase from my site. Trying to figure out the way to link and hope the page doesn’t change is a challenge I have not undertaken. I guess part of it is not knowing how and the other not having time to mess with it.
14. Where can people order your books? Most of my Mystery Suspense books are available from Wings ePress, Inc http://www.wings-press.com That is probably the best place to start or check out my website for a list with brief summary, prices and locations. http://www.billiewilliams.com
15. What format are your books – e-book, print, audio etc? All of the Wings books are available in e-book as PDF, Mobi, HTML and other formats as well as in print. The books from lulu are available in PDF download or print, Others are e-book only. So it really depends on the title the person is looking at. I do not have any audio books at this time.
16. Will you write more books? Absolutely! I cannot help but write more.
17. What do you have in the works now? The Capricorn Goat ~ ~ January Flannel – is the book I’m writing with the bookclub, but I also Tracker another mystery suspense is in the works, then there is a Marketing book, and the next books in the writing series Mystery, Muse and Manuscript, and Playing with Plays. I have been requested to write another adaptation of a novel My Dear Phebe for a friend into a 3-act play for Community Theater also.
18. What does the future hold for you and your books? I hope the New York Times Best Seller list {smile} — Or at least a chance to do some book signings and meet some reader/fans. I would like to increase the number and quality of the books I write. I would like to sell 100,000 copies of one of my books.
19. What was the most successful thing you did to promote your books? I’ve given talks at a couple libraries – one was very well received and I sold quite a few books there. I was a presenter at a writer’s workshop [Obadiah’s Christian Women Writers] which was very well received and I sold many books. I think so far the post card mailings have been the most effective return on investment. I have given away pens, calendar planners, and sold stuff at Café Press, these don’t seem to be as good a venue.
20. What was the least successful thing you did to promote your books? Hired a publicist and then a life coach – still paying those off and it didn’t result in one sale or one new publisher or agent or anything productive that I can put my finger on. A total waste of money that could be the persons I chose rather then saying a publicist or a coach don’t work, because I think they could be very effective if it’s a match.
1. Where you are from and where are you now? I’ve lived most of my life on the Michigan- Wisconsin Border with a brief residency in Colorado – the Four Corners Area and I currently live in Northern Wisconsin near the Michigan border again.
2. How did you get started writing? I always loved to read, so I guess it followed naturally that somewhere along the line I’d write the book I couldn’t find, or just that I’d have enough experiences that I thought others might enjoy that something sparked me to write about them. Which is exactly what happened in 1995 when a new friend showed me the book she was writing while I was living out in Bayfield, Colorado it was my signal. It was, if she could I sure could, and why hadn’t I thought to do it sooner? As they say, the rest is history.
3. What do you do when you are not writing? I am an organic gardener in the summer, but I also do all manner of crafts, knitting, crochet, sewing, quilting, rug hooking – and to relax I play the piano. I work part time again now so some days I’m at our local café doing dishes, or working in our small grocery store. Meeting people in these ways helps the loneliness and isolation a writer can succumb to in their writer’s cave just writing.
4. What would readers like to know about you? I love to hear from readers. I love to help aspiring writer’s get there wings. I have a bookclub where readers can get to read one chapter a week of a new novel in progress for free. I also have a free 5-week writer’s course both available from my website at http://billiewilliams.com I love what I do and I am open to an online chat, a guest appearance if you are near enough to my home – and any other venue where you would need an author, a writer, a reader to interact.
5. What inspired your first book? It was out in Bayfield Colorado where Death by Candlelight got its start. You might say this is a character driven book because it was a young girl I saw walking from what I guessed to be her apartment above a business place across an over grown field and railroad tracks to the buildings on the other block. I assumed she was going to the grocery store over there. She looked like a waif, a girl in trouble. I asked some ‘what if’ questions of her (in my mind but not in person to her), did a character sketch and began writing her story.
6. How many books have you written? At this time I have more than two dozen in print or as e-books. I have five more under contract to be released next year with half a dozen re-releases expected within the same time frame.
7. What are the titles of your books and what genres are they? Titles: Death by Candlelight, Candlelight and Shadows, Skull Music, The Pink Lady Slipper, Bed and Breakfast Murders, and Small Town Secrets are all Mystery Suspense. Watch For the Raven is a young adult historical adventure, Tung Umolomo, is an adventure/suspense. A Christmas Dream is a 3-Act play. A series of writing books Writing Wide, Exercises in Creative Writing; Characters in Search of an Author; Spice Up Your Writing! Write to Entice; {are currently published} Two Titles in the Works are Mystery, Muse and Manuscript, and Playing With Plays. Fire at Thunder Ridge currently out of print is being shopped around to be republished. I have several books out that the publishers have folded and these books are currently under contract with other publishers to be re-released next year. Those I won’t list here. Feather’s In The Wind, Meanderings Most Museful, are poetry books; Bed and Breakfast Murders Cook Book and Extras and The Golden Kettle Café Cookbook from Small Town Secrets are cookbooks that have recipes and more from the books they are attached to; Adrift is a book of essays, flash fiction and short stories; Magic Carpet Ride is a children’s book; and Wide Spaces is a booklet on writing. Irish Whiskey, Beyond the Shadows, Angeni, Great White Bull, Valentine Express are Romantic Suspense I’ve written under two pseudonyms, Cricket Sawyer and Logan Blue
8. How do you decide on that topic or genre? Actually, the ideas just find me. I could be reading a book, newspaper or magazine and an idea will jump out at me, or I could hear a name and I develop a character in my mind and the story begins. I think the genre decides itself too. I read a lot of mysteries so I suppose I am more apt to write them, but I also read tons of books on the craft of writing so I am drawn to writing them too. I love to try new things so I take courses online or by mail to increase my awareness of other genres I might want to try. I’m dipping my toe in the Romantic suspense genre now, I recently tried writing plays because it fascinated me and I had a book I thought would make a great movie – So I’ve tried my hand at adapting a friends novel to a 3-act play and I’ve begun adapting one of my novels to a screen play. I guess I’m a life time learner and I need to learn and try whatever I can.
9. How do you manage to keep yourself focused and on track? I have a writing schedule and I pretty much stick to it. I have recently decided to adopt a friend’s idea and curtail answering emails to certain days of the week as they can really eat into my writing time. I make a regular daily to do list – and try to write a new chapter a day on my works in progress. I also blog, write articles and work at promoting the books I already have out. So a schedule becomes more and more necessary if I intend to stay on top of things.
10. Do you write to make money or for the love of writing? A little of both. I need to make money in order to stay at home. But if I stay at home without being out in the workforce I’m afraid I’ll become narrow minded and run out of things to write about. So it’s sort of a catch twenty two. I can’t imagine not writing – I love it! But, I need to earn a living too.
11. What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used? Marketing – hear a large primal scream here… not something I enjoy doing or am good at. I normally send out postcards to announce a new release, I seek reviews for all my books constantly, visit and join groups that are of similar interest, write reviews for others, write articles and post them where I can as well as on my blogs, Which brings me to blogs as a means of getting my name out there – advertising and promotion. I maintain more than one web site, I manage a writer/reader group called Word Mage and I send a business card, post card in mail leaving my home, or like this past month a calendar planner Every piece of snail mail that leaves my house – that could be bills (the reason I don’t pay some of them on line) letters, Christmas Cards, whatever I send out gets some promo type piece inserted in the envelop. I’ve recently started a book club as mentioned earlier to allow readers to read a chapter a week of my novel in progress, instituted a 5-week writing course both of these are free, and I have two pages of free stuff on my websites so that readers can just grab something that strikes their fancy. I have made video trailers of my books as well as those of other authors and author jewelry makers/artists.
12. What are some unique methods of marketing you have used? I guess the blog or viral tour is new to me, though not necessary unique at this time. I think the bookclub read-a-chapter-a-week is one though Douglas Clegg and Stephen King have done similar things. Video trailers while not new but are pretty unique ways to display your wares so to speak. Joining social groups, marketing groups, and mystery groups on the social networks is quickly gaining popularity places like MySpace, FaceBooks, etc. are good marketing tools. I look for ways to help others, this I think is by far the best return on investment I’ve ever had.
13. Do you sell through a website? If so, what’s the address? If not, why not? Some of my books I do – with my webstore at http://lulu.com/Billie others like the books from my Wings Publisher it is not feasible though I could supply a link to purchase from my site. Trying to figure out the way to link and hope the page doesn’t change is a challenge I have not undertaken. I guess part of it is not knowing how and the other not having time to mess with it.
14. Where can people order your books? Most of my Mystery Suspense books are available from Wings ePress, Inc http://www.wings-press.com That is probably the best place to start or check out my website for a list with brief summary, prices and locations. http://www.billiewilliams.com
15. What format are your books – e-book, print, audio etc? All of the Wings books are available in e-book as PDF, Mobi, HTML and other formats as well as in print. The books from lulu are available in PDF download or print, Others are e-book only. So it really depends on the title the person is looking at. I do not have any audio books at this time.
16. Will you write more books? Absolutely! I cannot help but write more.
17. What do you have in the works now? The Capricorn Goat ~ ~ January Flannel – is the book I’m writing with the bookclub, but I also Tracker another mystery suspense is in the works, then there is a Marketing book, and the next books in the writing series Mystery, Muse and Manuscript, and Playing with Plays. I have been requested to write another adaptation of a novel My Dear Phebe for a friend into a 3-act play for Community Theater also.
18. What does the future hold for you and your books? I hope the New York Times Best Seller list {smile} — Or at least a chance to do some book signings and meet some reader/fans. I would like to increase the number and quality of the books I write. I would like to sell 100,000 copies of one of my books.
19. What was the most successful thing you did to promote your books? I’ve given talks at a couple libraries – one was very well received and I sold quite a few books there. I was a presenter at a writer’s workshop [Obadiah’s Christian Women Writers] which was very well received and I sold many books. I think so far the post card mailings have been the most effective return on investment. I have given away pens, calendar planners, and sold stuff at Café Press, these don’t seem to be as good a venue.
20. What was the least successful thing you did to promote your books? Hired a publicist and then a life coach – still paying those off and it didn’t result in one sale or one new publisher or agent or anything productive that I can put my finger on. A total waste of money that could be the persons I chose rather then saying a publicist or a coach don’t work, because I think they could be very effective if it’s a match.
Promotional Interview with Amanda Young
Your Name: Amanda Young
1. Where you are from and where are you now?
I was born in Atlanta, Georgia. I now live in Las Vegas, Nevada and plan to move to Florida in near future.
2. How did you get started writing? It began with a dream. Literally. I kept dreaming of a little girl that looked very weak and sick. I finally got an envelope and began writing down the dream hoping that it would help me understand what it meant. I have worked for years as a hospice nurse and even thought she may one day be a patient. I was confused really. That was in 2000 and the title of the book now is ‘Megan’s Unicorn.” It is a story of a little girl named Megan who has leukemia. It is of how a dysfunctional family finds out that a little girl’s faith is the thing that can not only save her life but teach her family to learn to love. But one dies and this helps save another. I am proud of the story. It is in second print through Booksurge.com.
3. What do you do when you are not writing? I enjoy nature. Anything outside. I appreciate nature nowadays. Before I use to try and find ways to rush through nature. Speed along on a bike or run or climb over steep terrain. Now, I like to sit and absorb the beauty of nature. Just appreciate it. I realize now that when I was racing through on my bike I did not see the beauty.
4. What would readers like to know about you? I think that they would like to know that I like myself these days. I do not know if it is because of all of the drafts of writing ‘Silent Prisoner’ which is my story. It is of my life and of surviving childhood abuse and being a survivor of domestic violence. I never thought it was possible to say those words and really mean it but I do like me. And that is such a good feeling!
5. What inspired your first book? As I said, it was a dream I kept having of a little girl that I later called Megan. The name means mighty one. I fought for a long time with the idea that I could put words on paper and turn them into a book. But something inside of me or outside of me believed I could.
6. How many books have you written? I have another one out in January or February at the latest and that will be my fifth. All are with Booksurge.com.
7. What are the titles of your books and what genres are they? Silent Prisoner is true story as I said of my life. ‘Megan’s Unicorn’ is fictional. Tessa Travels to the Great Nature God is fictional, fairy tale for adolescent to older. Tessa Meets the Tree Trunk Children is fictional, fairy tale for adolescent to older. And out in month or two is Life’s
Journey Home is fictional, fantasy for adolescent to adults.
8. How do you decide on that topic or genre? For ‘Silent Prisoner’ which is one I am promoting is easy. It is a non-fictional and autobiography and is of my life and my journey.
9. How do you manage to keep yourself focused and on track? It is hard. Life wants to distract. I have found that writing is the one thing I have done that needs a dedicated and serious focus. Nursing did also but not to the degree writing does or at least for me. I completely understand now when I had seen in movies of writers going off into the deep forest to be far away from civilization to write and find inspiration. I have fantasies these days of being in a log cabin and no phone, no neighbors and no noise. No distractions.
10. Do you write to make money or for the love of writing? Well, I hope that my newly found love for writing will turn into money. But who knows.
11. What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used? I have gone onto the internet and gotten address of places that deal with domestic violence. I have sent books with a press release to them. Booksurge.com has some great tools for authors. I have a press kit which includes bookmarks, postcards and had them do a press release. They do great work. I tell others of my book. I feel good about the book, more and more. It took some getting use to I have to be honest. It is of my life and my traumas. I cried a lot and did not think I would be able to go through with putting my story out there to be honest. That is what victims of abuse want to do. Pretend it did not happen. I did not want that for others. Someone said to me that there are many ways to nurse a sick and wounded soul and you did it by sharing your story. I liked that comment. Word of mouth I hope will work for my story too.
12. What are some unique methods of marketing you have used? I sent my book to a state representative with a letter. I have not heard from him or his staff. I saw on a web sight that he was for laws to help further help victims of abuse. I sent to a senator my book. And I sent to a prison warden. Of a girl prison. Nothing back from them either. The books did not come back and so have to believe they made it there. To someone.
13. Do you sell through a website? If so, what’s the address? If not, why not? I have been asking around and want to do website.
14. Where can people order your books? Amazon.com and Booksurge.com
15. What format are your books – e-book, print, audio etc? Print
16. Will you write more books? I don’t know. Maybe.
17. What do you have in the works now? As I said, ‘Life’s Journey Home’ should be in print end of Jan. 2008 or Feb.
18. What does the future hold for you and your books? I hope that they will be well known as I believe in the messages they give. I do not know. Does anyone ever know when they write a
book what will happen?
19. What was the most successful thing you did to promote your books? I have yet to find that out. I like working with Pump Up Your Book Promotion and have been very pleased with them. I could not have found the places they have me on. I am thankful they sent me an e-mail and I responded.
20. What was the least successful thing you did to promote your books? I am not sure. I have found that in life when you think someone did not hear you or they did not like what you said. That is sometimes the person that told someone else they did not like you or your story and that person they told was the one that was suppose to get the message. So, you just never know how the message gets past on to the right person. Life is a mystery to me that I am finding out more and more to be intriguing and a joy to try and understand.
Silent Prisoner synopsis: Silent Prisoner is based on a true story of how one woman, through faith, survived childhood abuse, and later, domestic violence. April follows life’s road as best she can without the benefit of having parents or siblings along the way. On this road of life she encounters a loving aunt, a spiritual mentor, a proper grandmother, and a stoic therapist. Even though these people are only in her life for a brief time, they have planted the seed within her that will sprout forth an inner strength and faith in God and the Angels.
Amanda Young is a registered nurse with a degree in Homeopathy from the British Institute of Homeopathy. Abused by her alcoholic parents and later the victim of domestic violence, Amanda credits the special people in her life and faith in God and the Angels for helping her overcome being a victim and allowing her to thrive. She wrote “Silent Prisoner” in the hope that sharing her story will help those who are silent and suffering to have the courage to find help.
This interview was done in conjunction with Nikki Leigh. For more information, visit – www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm.
1. Where you are from and where are you now?
I was born in Atlanta, Georgia. I now live in Las Vegas, Nevada and plan to move to Florida in near future.
2. How did you get started writing? It began with a dream. Literally. I kept dreaming of a little girl that looked very weak and sick. I finally got an envelope and began writing down the dream hoping that it would help me understand what it meant. I have worked for years as a hospice nurse and even thought she may one day be a patient. I was confused really. That was in 2000 and the title of the book now is ‘Megan’s Unicorn.” It is a story of a little girl named Megan who has leukemia. It is of how a dysfunctional family finds out that a little girl’s faith is the thing that can not only save her life but teach her family to learn to love. But one dies and this helps save another. I am proud of the story. It is in second print through Booksurge.com.
3. What do you do when you are not writing? I enjoy nature. Anything outside. I appreciate nature nowadays. Before I use to try and find ways to rush through nature. Speed along on a bike or run or climb over steep terrain. Now, I like to sit and absorb the beauty of nature. Just appreciate it. I realize now that when I was racing through on my bike I did not see the beauty.
4. What would readers like to know about you? I think that they would like to know that I like myself these days. I do not know if it is because of all of the drafts of writing ‘Silent Prisoner’ which is my story. It is of my life and of surviving childhood abuse and being a survivor of domestic violence. I never thought it was possible to say those words and really mean it but I do like me. And that is such a good feeling!
5. What inspired your first book? As I said, it was a dream I kept having of a little girl that I later called Megan. The name means mighty one. I fought for a long time with the idea that I could put words on paper and turn them into a book. But something inside of me or outside of me believed I could.
6. How many books have you written? I have another one out in January or February at the latest and that will be my fifth. All are with Booksurge.com.
7. What are the titles of your books and what genres are they? Silent Prisoner is true story as I said of my life. ‘Megan’s Unicorn’ is fictional. Tessa Travels to the Great Nature God is fictional, fairy tale for adolescent to older. Tessa Meets the Tree Trunk Children is fictional, fairy tale for adolescent to older. And out in month or two is Life’s
Journey Home is fictional, fantasy for adolescent to adults.
8. How do you decide on that topic or genre? For ‘Silent Prisoner’ which is one I am promoting is easy. It is a non-fictional and autobiography and is of my life and my journey.
9. How do you manage to keep yourself focused and on track? It is hard. Life wants to distract. I have found that writing is the one thing I have done that needs a dedicated and serious focus. Nursing did also but not to the degree writing does or at least for me. I completely understand now when I had seen in movies of writers going off into the deep forest to be far away from civilization to write and find inspiration. I have fantasies these days of being in a log cabin and no phone, no neighbors and no noise. No distractions.
10. Do you write to make money or for the love of writing? Well, I hope that my newly found love for writing will turn into money. But who knows.
11. What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used? I have gone onto the internet and gotten address of places that deal with domestic violence. I have sent books with a press release to them. Booksurge.com has some great tools for authors. I have a press kit which includes bookmarks, postcards and had them do a press release. They do great work. I tell others of my book. I feel good about the book, more and more. It took some getting use to I have to be honest. It is of my life and my traumas. I cried a lot and did not think I would be able to go through with putting my story out there to be honest. That is what victims of abuse want to do. Pretend it did not happen. I did not want that for others. Someone said to me that there are many ways to nurse a sick and wounded soul and you did it by sharing your story. I liked that comment. Word of mouth I hope will work for my story too.
12. What are some unique methods of marketing you have used? I sent my book to a state representative with a letter. I have not heard from him or his staff. I saw on a web sight that he was for laws to help further help victims of abuse. I sent to a senator my book. And I sent to a prison warden. Of a girl prison. Nothing back from them either. The books did not come back and so have to believe they made it there. To someone.
13. Do you sell through a website? If so, what’s the address? If not, why not? I have been asking around and want to do website.
14. Where can people order your books? Amazon.com and Booksurge.com
15. What format are your books – e-book, print, audio etc? Print
16. Will you write more books? I don’t know. Maybe.
17. What do you have in the works now? As I said, ‘Life’s Journey Home’ should be in print end of Jan. 2008 or Feb.
18. What does the future hold for you and your books? I hope that they will be well known as I believe in the messages they give. I do not know. Does anyone ever know when they write a
book what will happen?
19. What was the most successful thing you did to promote your books? I have yet to find that out. I like working with Pump Up Your Book Promotion and have been very pleased with them. I could not have found the places they have me on. I am thankful they sent me an e-mail and I responded.
20. What was the least successful thing you did to promote your books? I am not sure. I have found that in life when you think someone did not hear you or they did not like what you said. That is sometimes the person that told someone else they did not like you or your story and that person they told was the one that was suppose to get the message. So, you just never know how the message gets past on to the right person. Life is a mystery to me that I am finding out more and more to be intriguing and a joy to try and understand.
Silent Prisoner synopsis: Silent Prisoner is based on a true story of how one woman, through faith, survived childhood abuse, and later, domestic violence. April follows life’s road as best she can without the benefit of having parents or siblings along the way. On this road of life she encounters a loving aunt, a spiritual mentor, a proper grandmother, and a stoic therapist. Even though these people are only in her life for a brief time, they have planted the seed within her that will sprout forth an inner strength and faith in God and the Angels.
Amanda Young is a registered nurse with a degree in Homeopathy from the British Institute of Homeopathy. Abused by her alcoholic parents and later the victim of domestic violence, Amanda credits the special people in her life and faith in God and the Angels for helping her overcome being a victim and allowing her to thrive. She wrote “Silent Prisoner” in the hope that sharing her story will help those who are silent and suffering to have the courage to find help.
This interview was done in conjunction with Nikki Leigh. For more information, visit – www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm.
Promotional Interview with Yvonne Perry
You have been invited to share you experience with our readers.
Name: Yvonne Perry
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
I was raised in Norcross, a Northeast suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. A whole new world opened up for me when I learned to read and write, and I remember my first grade teacher having me show my interpretive expression to the entire class when she caught me privately mimicking the gesture Jane was making in our Dick and Jane readers. I was so involved in the story, I had become the character!
In high school, I had a creative writing teacher named Miss Hallford, who consistently told me that I had a gift for writing. Even though I burned my right hand in a grease fire during my senior year, I made an A in her class by writing my assignments with my left hand. Writing was therapy for me then, and I still carry her encouragement with me 30 years later.
What inspired you to write your first book?
I was going through a difficult time in my life and used my writing as an outlet for release. I hid my pain and frustration with humor as I shared my predicament via daily emails to the friends I had left behind in other states. They kept telling me I should write a book using these stories about raising teenagers, going through divorce and nearly caving in during mid-life crisis. So, I did. I gathered all the emails into a file and started compiling Email Episodes, my first book self-published in 2004.
How many books have you written?
I have personally written or co-authored four non-fiction books and twelve children’s books. I’ve doctored (rewritten, ghosted or performed substantial editing) eight books, and I’ve edited/proofread two more.
How do you decide on their topic?
If it is a client’s book, the topic is already chosen. If it is my own book, I go with an inspired idea and work it into my schedule around client projects.
What works best to keep you focused and on track?
I am extremely self-directed and self-motivated. I am able to multi-task and accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. My problem is, I am so driven I have to make myself take a break
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
Both. I love what I do, but I also get paid for writing and editing books, articles, newsletter, brochure and Web site text.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
Media releases, radio shows, and book reviews to major reviewers. I’ve also hired a book publicist to arrange local book tours and speaking engagements.
What are some unique methods?
Networking groups, newsletters, virtual book tours, book trailer, article marketing and blogging.
Do you sell through a website?
Yes, www.right2recover.com and www.yvonneperry.net/books.htm
Do you plan on writing additional books?
Yes, for clients. I plan to focus on marketing RIGHT TO RECOVER Winning the Political and Religious Wars over Stem Cell Research in America before I write any more titles using my own name.
Interview Presented By -
Nikki Leigh - Author
www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm
"Coastal Suspense with a Touch of Romance"
Name: Yvonne Perry
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
I was raised in Norcross, a Northeast suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. A whole new world opened up for me when I learned to read and write, and I remember my first grade teacher having me show my interpretive expression to the entire class when she caught me privately mimicking the gesture Jane was making in our Dick and Jane readers. I was so involved in the story, I had become the character!
In high school, I had a creative writing teacher named Miss Hallford, who consistently told me that I had a gift for writing. Even though I burned my right hand in a grease fire during my senior year, I made an A in her class by writing my assignments with my left hand. Writing was therapy for me then, and I still carry her encouragement with me 30 years later.
What inspired you to write your first book?
I was going through a difficult time in my life and used my writing as an outlet for release. I hid my pain and frustration with humor as I shared my predicament via daily emails to the friends I had left behind in other states. They kept telling me I should write a book using these stories about raising teenagers, going through divorce and nearly caving in during mid-life crisis. So, I did. I gathered all the emails into a file and started compiling Email Episodes, my first book self-published in 2004.
How many books have you written?
I have personally written or co-authored four non-fiction books and twelve children’s books. I’ve doctored (rewritten, ghosted or performed substantial editing) eight books, and I’ve edited/proofread two more.
How do you decide on their topic?
If it is a client’s book, the topic is already chosen. If it is my own book, I go with an inspired idea and work it into my schedule around client projects.
What works best to keep you focused and on track?
I am extremely self-directed and self-motivated. I am able to multi-task and accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. My problem is, I am so driven I have to make myself take a break
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
Both. I love what I do, but I also get paid for writing and editing books, articles, newsletter, brochure and Web site text.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
Media releases, radio shows, and book reviews to major reviewers. I’ve also hired a book publicist to arrange local book tours and speaking engagements.
What are some unique methods?
Networking groups, newsletters, virtual book tours, book trailer, article marketing and blogging.
Do you sell through a website?
Yes, www.right2recover.com and www.yvonneperry.net/books.htm
Do you plan on writing additional books?
Yes, for clients. I plan to focus on marketing RIGHT TO RECOVER Winning the Political and Religious Wars over Stem Cell Research in America before I write any more titles using my own name.
Interview Presented By -
Nikki Leigh - Author
www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm
"Coastal Suspense with a Touch of Romance"
Promotional Interview with Maureen Fisher
You have been invited to share you experience with our readers.
Name: Maureen Fisher
Tell us about yourself - where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
Born in Scotland, and dragged to Canada by well-meaning parents at the tender age of seven, I survived childhood and adolescence by immersing myself in books. Thirteen years later and a University of Toronto graduate, I convinced the federal government to hire a Fine Arts specialist as a computer programmer. Three years later, I graduated again, this time to full-time homemaker and mom, raising two wonderful sons. Plunging back into the business world, my second husband and I started a small but thriving management consulting company. This marriage survived because we pledged never to work on the same project again. Ever.
After a century in the consulting world, I grew weary of wearing snappy power suits, squeezing into panty hose, and fighting rush hour traffic. I still didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I was certain of one thing -- it wasn't a consultant. I made a life-changing decision, ignored advice to the contrary and quit my day job, and attended a 5-day seminar entitled How to Write a Novel. How hard could it be? Look at the bookshelves. Thousands of authors pulled it off every year, some of them more than once.
Between as much travel as we can squeeze in, my husband and I live in Ottawa where I volunteer for an addiction family program, play bridge, and slave over a computer to improve my writing skills.
What inspired you to write your first book?
My Inner Voice was hollering at me for decades, trying in vain to get my attention. I have a knack for denial.
It's like this. When I was in grade seven, I stood up in front of my long-suffering classmates, heart hammering in my skinny chest, and droned out my first public speaking assignment--a memorized essay I had compiled about dinosaurs. I covered the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous waterfronts. At least ten of my classmates dozed off and one appeared to fall into a full-fledged coma, alarming Mr. Hughes, my teacher. Indeed, my performance was so pitiful, he must have felt sorry for me, because he gave me another chance. “You have until Monday morning to redeem yourself, young lady,” he intoned.
That gave me exactly three days to pull together a brilliant speech.
Being a staunch advocate of pain avoidance and a coward to boot, I turned the problem over to my mother, knowing full well she would jump to my rescue. She rose to the occasion and spent the weekend writing a delightfully funny story entitled, “On Housebreaking a Puppy.” On Monday at 10:00 a.m., I delivered a brilliant essay that knocked the socks off my delighted classmates and a relieved Mr. Hughes. Nobody fell asleep this time. My classmates thought I had developed a sense of humor over the weekend, and my mother and I received an 'A' for our efforts. After that, I figured, why mess with success? My mother wrote another couple of polished pieces brimming with adult humor to round out my primary school writing career in style, and I slunk into high school with high marks and low self esteem. Feeling like a total fraud, I made no attempt to write another creative word outside of essays and technical reports for several decades.
Fast forward many years. In June 2003, a good friend and primo energy healer (she refers to herself as a 'soul healer') called up our spiritual guides, guardians, and gatekeepers to channel an unforgettable session during which I made a life-changing decision. I walked out of her house knowing I would write books. Not dry, boring, technical treatises or management reports, but fresh, funny romantic suspense novels.
How many books have you written?
The Jaguar Legacy is my first book. I am currently in the middle of my second, a romantic suspense with comic elements called Fur Ball Fever.
How do you decide on their topic?
Wow, that's a tough one. With me, each book is different.
My first book, The Jaguar Legacy, is a paranormal romantic suspense that gives voice to my belief in reincarnation. Triggered by the energy of the archaeological dig, my heroine makes the unnerving discovery that in her past life, she had been an Olmec High Priestess, trained to kill at an early age, and thirsting for power. Over the last few months, it occurred to me that perhaps the past life I wrote about was one of my own. Certainly, it was the part of the book that flowed most easily, the only part that required little or no editing.
A newspaper article about a hoity-toity charity extravaganza called The Fur Ball provided the kernel of the idea for my second book, Fur Ball Fever. What could be more fun than a romantic suspense set against a wacky backdrop of animal politics -- a Best in Show (with hot sex) meets the Stephanie Plum Series? I wanted something funny, something outrageous, something zany. I zeroed in on a pet-napping gone terribly wrong (yes, there is a murder). Throw in two former flames as private investigators and reluctant allies, an aging flower child auntie, a phony televangelist, a missing trophy wife, several drag queens, a dominatrix or two, the swinging scene, an underworld of fetishism and bondage, and the result is a zany roller-coaster ride of murder and mayhem, culminating in a Fur Ball extravaganza the locals will never forget.
What works best to keep you focused and on track?
I am a pretty disciplined person, and do my best writing in the morning. I try my best not to schedule any appointments during that time. Whenever life creeps in and I fall off my self-imposed writing schedule, my husband usually steps in and reminds me of my priorities. He even helps me re-shuffle some of his responsibilities and shoulders some of my load.
When I need support, again, the first person I turn to is my husband. He has read every word of my book several times, and has absorbed the tough lessons I learned during the critique and rejection process. Now, not only does he act as my consultant on all manly matters, he, too, can recognize a weak hook, a POV error, motivation that lacks credibility, an opportunity for more humor. In addition, I have a strong support group with several critique partners to keep me focused and on track. Also, I'm a member of the Ottawa RWA, and I attend at least two conferences a year.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
I guess the answer has to be love of writing. No one in their right mind would ever become a writer with the express goal of making tons of money. However, I wouldn't turn down nice, healthy royalty checks and adulation from millions of devout fans.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
The first thing I did was hire a publicist who knows the business inside out -- something this first-time author did not. If you can afford one, I highly recommend it. She sent my book to several sites for reviews (some free, some for a fee), set up book signings, organized a book tour for several of her authors, hauled me in front of a television camera for an interview about romance writing, arranged for online interviews, and generally holds my hand to guide me through the maze of promotion options. She also has a contact in the film industry, so I am keeping my fingers crossed on that one.
At the same time, I hired a specialist to design and build a website, joined a couple of chat groups, established a presence on www.MySpace.com, and had business cards, bookmarks, posters, and brochures printed up. I am currently participating in a Virtual Book Tour (this interview is one of several in the tour), placed an advertisement in Romantic Times, and contacted the local columnist who wrote a little blurb about my book.
What are some unique methods?
At the New England RWA conference, I dressed as a jaguar for the Saturday night masquerade. I wore a flashy jaguar-print outfit, furry ears, painted my nose black, and drew whiskers on my face with eye liner.
Do you sell through a website?
My website at www.booksbymaureen.com provides links to Amazon in Canada, the US, and Britain.
Do you plan on writing additional books?
Absolutely. I plan to alternate my Condo Capers Series (Fur Ball Fever is the open salvo in this line of comic romantic suspense) with paranormal romantic suspense. I have several good ideas for both.
Interview Presented by -
Nikki Leigh - http://www.nikkileigh.com
Author of the Book Promo 101 Series
Name: Maureen Fisher
Tell us about yourself - where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
Born in Scotland, and dragged to Canada by well-meaning parents at the tender age of seven, I survived childhood and adolescence by immersing myself in books. Thirteen years later and a University of Toronto graduate, I convinced the federal government to hire a Fine Arts specialist as a computer programmer. Three years later, I graduated again, this time to full-time homemaker and mom, raising two wonderful sons. Plunging back into the business world, my second husband and I started a small but thriving management consulting company. This marriage survived because we pledged never to work on the same project again. Ever.
After a century in the consulting world, I grew weary of wearing snappy power suits, squeezing into panty hose, and fighting rush hour traffic. I still didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I was certain of one thing -- it wasn't a consultant. I made a life-changing decision, ignored advice to the contrary and quit my day job, and attended a 5-day seminar entitled How to Write a Novel. How hard could it be? Look at the bookshelves. Thousands of authors pulled it off every year, some of them more than once.
Between as much travel as we can squeeze in, my husband and I live in Ottawa where I volunteer for an addiction family program, play bridge, and slave over a computer to improve my writing skills.
What inspired you to write your first book?
My Inner Voice was hollering at me for decades, trying in vain to get my attention. I have a knack for denial.
It's like this. When I was in grade seven, I stood up in front of my long-suffering classmates, heart hammering in my skinny chest, and droned out my first public speaking assignment--a memorized essay I had compiled about dinosaurs. I covered the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous waterfronts. At least ten of my classmates dozed off and one appeared to fall into a full-fledged coma, alarming Mr. Hughes, my teacher. Indeed, my performance was so pitiful, he must have felt sorry for me, because he gave me another chance. “You have until Monday morning to redeem yourself, young lady,” he intoned.
That gave me exactly three days to pull together a brilliant speech.
Being a staunch advocate of pain avoidance and a coward to boot, I turned the problem over to my mother, knowing full well she would jump to my rescue. She rose to the occasion and spent the weekend writing a delightfully funny story entitled, “On Housebreaking a Puppy.” On Monday at 10:00 a.m., I delivered a brilliant essay that knocked the socks off my delighted classmates and a relieved Mr. Hughes. Nobody fell asleep this time. My classmates thought I had developed a sense of humor over the weekend, and my mother and I received an 'A' for our efforts. After that, I figured, why mess with success? My mother wrote another couple of polished pieces brimming with adult humor to round out my primary school writing career in style, and I slunk into high school with high marks and low self esteem. Feeling like a total fraud, I made no attempt to write another creative word outside of essays and technical reports for several decades.
Fast forward many years. In June 2003, a good friend and primo energy healer (she refers to herself as a 'soul healer') called up our spiritual guides, guardians, and gatekeepers to channel an unforgettable session during which I made a life-changing decision. I walked out of her house knowing I would write books. Not dry, boring, technical treatises or management reports, but fresh, funny romantic suspense novels.
How many books have you written?
The Jaguar Legacy is my first book. I am currently in the middle of my second, a romantic suspense with comic elements called Fur Ball Fever.
How do you decide on their topic?
Wow, that's a tough one. With me, each book is different.
My first book, The Jaguar Legacy, is a paranormal romantic suspense that gives voice to my belief in reincarnation. Triggered by the energy of the archaeological dig, my heroine makes the unnerving discovery that in her past life, she had been an Olmec High Priestess, trained to kill at an early age, and thirsting for power. Over the last few months, it occurred to me that perhaps the past life I wrote about was one of my own. Certainly, it was the part of the book that flowed most easily, the only part that required little or no editing.
A newspaper article about a hoity-toity charity extravaganza called The Fur Ball provided the kernel of the idea for my second book, Fur Ball Fever. What could be more fun than a romantic suspense set against a wacky backdrop of animal politics -- a Best in Show (with hot sex) meets the Stephanie Plum Series? I wanted something funny, something outrageous, something zany. I zeroed in on a pet-napping gone terribly wrong (yes, there is a murder). Throw in two former flames as private investigators and reluctant allies, an aging flower child auntie, a phony televangelist, a missing trophy wife, several drag queens, a dominatrix or two, the swinging scene, an underworld of fetishism and bondage, and the result is a zany roller-coaster ride of murder and mayhem, culminating in a Fur Ball extravaganza the locals will never forget.
What works best to keep you focused and on track?
I am a pretty disciplined person, and do my best writing in the morning. I try my best not to schedule any appointments during that time. Whenever life creeps in and I fall off my self-imposed writing schedule, my husband usually steps in and reminds me of my priorities. He even helps me re-shuffle some of his responsibilities and shoulders some of my load.
When I need support, again, the first person I turn to is my husband. He has read every word of my book several times, and has absorbed the tough lessons I learned during the critique and rejection process. Now, not only does he act as my consultant on all manly matters, he, too, can recognize a weak hook, a POV error, motivation that lacks credibility, an opportunity for more humor. In addition, I have a strong support group with several critique partners to keep me focused and on track. Also, I'm a member of the Ottawa RWA, and I attend at least two conferences a year.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
I guess the answer has to be love of writing. No one in their right mind would ever become a writer with the express goal of making tons of money. However, I wouldn't turn down nice, healthy royalty checks and adulation from millions of devout fans.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
The first thing I did was hire a publicist who knows the business inside out -- something this first-time author did not. If you can afford one, I highly recommend it. She sent my book to several sites for reviews (some free, some for a fee), set up book signings, organized a book tour for several of her authors, hauled me in front of a television camera for an interview about romance writing, arranged for online interviews, and generally holds my hand to guide me through the maze of promotion options. She also has a contact in the film industry, so I am keeping my fingers crossed on that one.
At the same time, I hired a specialist to design and build a website, joined a couple of chat groups, established a presence on www.MySpace.com, and had business cards, bookmarks, posters, and brochures printed up. I am currently participating in a Virtual Book Tour (this interview is one of several in the tour), placed an advertisement in Romantic Times, and contacted the local columnist who wrote a little blurb about my book.
What are some unique methods?
At the New England RWA conference, I dressed as a jaguar for the Saturday night masquerade. I wore a flashy jaguar-print outfit, furry ears, painted my nose black, and drew whiskers on my face with eye liner.
Do you sell through a website?
My website at www.booksbymaureen.com provides links to Amazon in Canada, the US, and Britain.
Do you plan on writing additional books?
Absolutely. I plan to alternate my Condo Capers Series (Fur Ball Fever is the open salvo in this line of comic romantic suspense) with paranormal romantic suspense. I have several good ideas for both.
Interview Presented by -
Nikki Leigh - http://www.nikkileigh.com
Author of the Book Promo 101 Series
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Promotional Interview with Michael Murphy
You have been invited to share you experience with our readers.
Name: Michael Murphy
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know) I’m a former journalism major who switched to got married, switched to business and began to raise a family. I became serious about my writing in my forties and wrote my first novel which won first place in the Arizona Authors Association novel writing contest in 2000.
What inspired you to write your first book? My first novel, Class of ’68 was inspired by the year I graduated from high school, one of the most tumultuous years of the twentieth century. I wanted to write a book that captured the horror of war, despair of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, and the end of the idealism of the sixties.
How many books have you written? I’ve written six novels. Three came out this year, Try and Catch the Wind, the first in my Casey Bannister series, Class of ’68 and Secrets of Sheridan Manor, the second in the series. My fourth novel, Cold File, comes out September 1. Two more next year, the third in my series, Cuts Like a Knife and a spinoff of that series, called Ramblin’ Man. I’m currently finishing my seventh, a suspense novel called Scorpion Bay.
How do you decide on their topic? After Class of ’68 I focused on writing the types of books I like to read, mystery and suspense thrillers. The series that began with Try and Catch the Wind focuses on a former NYPD homicide detective struggling with retirement and his wife’s death in upstate New York. In many respects, the setting of the series gave direction to the novels.
What works best to keep you focused and on track? What’s kept me on track most of the time is belonging to a critique group. We meet weekly and if I don’t have a new chapter to turn in, I feel like I’ve let them down. Keeps me on my toes.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing? Since my publisher is small with limited distribution, I’m definitely not in it for the money, but I love creating novels and would never want my writing to become work.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)? I’ve enjoyed book signings. It’s quite humbling when people take time from their day to come see you and purchase your book. I’ve had good success with media coverage, three newspaper articles, a radio, a web chat, and a television interview. I have a nice website, www.mjmurphy.com that emphasizes my books, not me.
What are some unique methods? I’ve really jumped into the My Space phenomena, and have “met” people from all over the world who have purchased my books. They’ve becomes some of my biggest fans.
Do you sell through a website? My website routes readers to amazon.com or my publisher’s website, www.wings-press.com.
Do you plan on writing additional books? I’m looking forward to putting the final polishes on my seventh novel, Scorpion Bay. Then I’ll jump right back in with a new one. I will continue my Casey Bannister series, but next I’m going to tackle something new, but still in the suspense/thriller genre.
Interview with Kathleen Gage of Street Smarts Marketing and Nikki Leigh, author of Book Promo 101 - Learn the Basics of Book Promotion. www.nikkileigh.com/book_promo_101.htm
Name: Michael Murphy
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know) I’m a former journalism major who switched to got married, switched to business and began to raise a family. I became serious about my writing in my forties and wrote my first novel which won first place in the Arizona Authors Association novel writing contest in 2000.
What inspired you to write your first book? My first novel, Class of ’68 was inspired by the year I graduated from high school, one of the most tumultuous years of the twentieth century. I wanted to write a book that captured the horror of war, despair of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, and the end of the idealism of the sixties.
How many books have you written? I’ve written six novels. Three came out this year, Try and Catch the Wind, the first in my Casey Bannister series, Class of ’68 and Secrets of Sheridan Manor, the second in the series. My fourth novel, Cold File, comes out September 1. Two more next year, the third in my series, Cuts Like a Knife and a spinoff of that series, called Ramblin’ Man. I’m currently finishing my seventh, a suspense novel called Scorpion Bay.
How do you decide on their topic? After Class of ’68 I focused on writing the types of books I like to read, mystery and suspense thrillers. The series that began with Try and Catch the Wind focuses on a former NYPD homicide detective struggling with retirement and his wife’s death in upstate New York. In many respects, the setting of the series gave direction to the novels.
What works best to keep you focused and on track? What’s kept me on track most of the time is belonging to a critique group. We meet weekly and if I don’t have a new chapter to turn in, I feel like I’ve let them down. Keeps me on my toes.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing? Since my publisher is small with limited distribution, I’m definitely not in it for the money, but I love creating novels and would never want my writing to become work.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)? I’ve enjoyed book signings. It’s quite humbling when people take time from their day to come see you and purchase your book. I’ve had good success with media coverage, three newspaper articles, a radio, a web chat, and a television interview. I have a nice website, www.mjmurphy.com that emphasizes my books, not me.
What are some unique methods? I’ve really jumped into the My Space phenomena, and have “met” people from all over the world who have purchased my books. They’ve becomes some of my biggest fans.
Do you sell through a website? My website routes readers to amazon.com or my publisher’s website, www.wings-press.com.
Do you plan on writing additional books? I’m looking forward to putting the final polishes on my seventh novel, Scorpion Bay. Then I’ll jump right back in with a new one. I will continue my Casey Bannister series, but next I’m going to tackle something new, but still in the suspense/thriller genre.
Interview with Kathleen Gage of Street Smarts Marketing and Nikki Leigh, author of Book Promo 101 - Learn the Basics of Book Promotion. www.nikkileigh.com/book_promo_101.htm
Promotional Interview with Christee Gabour Atwood
You have been invited to share your experience with our readers.
Name: Christee Gabour Atwood
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
What do I want people to know? Mainly that I should serve as an inspiration to them. If I can achieve any sort of success in the world of writing, speaking, and promotions, then anyone can.
I’m originally from central Louisiana and I’ve moved around a bit due to my career-induced A.D.D. I love communication in any form and writing is my true passion.
Since I was four years old I’ve been telling people I would be a writer when I grew up. Well, either that or a singing veterinarian who fights fires and solves mysteries in her spare time. That career lost a little interest to me when I hit six years old. That’s when I got a typewriter.
As far as writing goes, I’ve done everything wrong. I wrote columns for free. I self-published first. I quit my day job. I write numerous books at one time so I don’t get bored with any of them. My first draft is often my final draft. I do ridiculous stunts to draw attention to my books. And I would do it all again … for nothing … which is pretty much the amount I’ve made after all the expenses are subtracted.
What inspired you to write your first book?
At four years old I wrote an incredible novel titled, The Lion Who Tamed the Man. Well, it was incredible because it didn’t have a whole lot of words. Mostly scribbles, pictures, and an occasional smear of Hershey Bar. But it was well received by the critics in my house and from that moment on, I was hooked on writing.
I was raised in a house where writing was as natural as breathing. My parents owned and ran a weekly newspaper. Instead of a bassinet, I slept in the bottom drawer of the file cabinet of The Pineville News. How could I not write?
When I was six, my parents gave me a cast iron Royal typewriter. I promptly took over the hot water heater closet at the house and turned it into my office where I wrote novels, short stories, and the typical angst poetry once I hit puberty. I think that was around the age of 20.
How many books have you written?
Five. Two humor. Three nonfiction business titles. The first was my self-published book, Journal of a Midlife Crisis. It was picked up by a publisher after I built up some good numbers on it. Then it was expanded, rewritten, and adapted to become Three Feet Under: Journal of a Midlife Crisis. My business books are Succession Planning Basics, Presentation Skills Training, and Manager Skills Training.
How do you decide on their topic?
The humor books are based on everyday life. I realized that I had gotten to a wonderful point in life where I was starting to get comfortable in my own skin. In fact, I was actually proud of my love affair with elastic waistbands. So it seemed time to share that joy with the world.
I started these books as humor columns for newspapers and magazines. Then I looked at a pile of those columns I had written and said, “Wow, that looks like a book.” And behold, it magically turned into a book!
The business books were selected through a void in the market that was recognized by my new publisher, ASTD Press. Those are some really cool people to work with. They weren’t even scared off by my chicken suit.
What works best to keep you focused and on track?
Writing quickly and in long shifts. I have the attention span of a gnat, so once I get started I have to keep writing for a long time. That’s because once I get up from that chair, I will have to re-read most of what I wrote just to remember where I was and get started again. That’s why I avoid stopping until something like a call of nature or a cat gnawing on my toes in hunger makes it impossible to go on. And if I see a shiny object, I’m lost from my writing for the day.
I also like writing short format materials. My columns are just long enough to keep my attention and I think much of the world shares that short attention span today. So, my writing ends up making a good bathroom book. As long as that’s the only use for it in the bathroom, I’m happy. It’s not on quilted paper, so I think I’m safe on avoiding other uses.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
I’d write even if I didn’t make money from it. And it’s a darn good thing, because quite often I don’t.
I love writing. I couldn’t stand not to write. It’s my form of therapy and it’s so much cheaper than a psychiatrist.
I do business writing too and that’s great because the speaking, training, and consulting from that writing brings in a lot more cash than my humor writing. And I like the idea that what I write helps people in the business world. I write training manuals and books that remind people to treat each other with respect. And my humorous side sneaks in and reminds them that a rubber chicken can be a very useful tool in a board meeting. (You’ll have to read my book to find out how!) So, I get the best of both worlds.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
I’ve used the basic methods of sending press releases, calling for television and radio interviews, and sending out ready-made feature articles and have gotten a really good response from this.
I created a folded handout that includes chapters from my books that I use in my presentations.
I am a columnist and include a tagline in all my columns that promotes my books.
I created a presentation for writers called, “Overnight Success … The 48-Year Method.” We talk about everything I’ve done wrong on the road to getting published. Well, not everything… that would take days, maybe weeks…
I do presentations for writers groups and libraries on topics ranging from “Presentation Skills for Writers” to “Tracking Down the Muse” and “National Novel Writing Month.”
I have more designs for bookmarks than I care to admit. And I spent my entire time at BookExpo America wearing tacky shirts that promoted the book and said, “Will Speak for Food”.
Sometimes I’m surprised that I haven’t ended up putting information on the restroom walls … hey, wait, that’s not a bad idea…
What are some unique methods?
Are you sure you want to hear this? It’s more than a little scary.
Last year, for National Novel Writing Month, I put on a chicken suit and sat in the window of a Waldenbooks for a month, writing a novel called, “Danger, Deceit, and a Demon … named Myron”. I got some incredible press – in fact, you can even see the article on CBS News webpage at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/08/print/main2241177.shtml
I was on the national radio show, The Satellite Sisters, and other various radio shows, television shows, and possibly even made it into a junior high school newspaper, but that might have just been a rumor.
I’ve emceed a Menopause Fashion Show for a hospital. Lots of elastic in that one. I’ve done talks for anyone who would stand still – and that includes turning around in elevators and saying, “I suppose you wonder why I called this meeting.”
I’ve offered myself as a fill-in guest for any radio or tv show within driving radius on a very short turnaround time. I’ve gotten calls with “We’re taping in 30 minutes. Can you talk about something?” and I’ve done it.
After the chicken suit episode, I got a reputation and ended up hosting the Harry Potter Release Party at a mall in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Now, they’ve called me back to be Mrs. Claus. I’m working on a promotion idea right now to do a “mall tour” because I can create promotional events with malls and I can shop at the same time. Sounds like heaven to me.
I created a Girls Night Out group that met at a local bookstore and discussed our midlife adventures. We later moved to bars and liked it much better… although we tended to forget what we had talked about.
Do you sell through a website?
Christee.biz
I have a link to places you can buy the book on my website. I believe that web presence is something on which I haven’t focused enough. That’s part of the reason for this tour. It’s giving me an opportunity to start making better use of the web as a forum to visit with potential readers.
I have begun to create humor and business podcasts and podtrainings for companies and will begin to compile these on my site as well as additional related merchandise.
Do you plan on writing additional books?
Whether I want to or not and whether they get published or not, I will continue to write books. The next book will be completed by November 30th as part of National Novel Writing Month. It’s titled, “In Celebration of Elastic Waistbands”.
Writing is my joy. And it’s my opportunity to laugh at myself with others. As I like to say, “If I laugh at myself first, then the rest of the world is laughing with me, not at me.”
Interview Presented by
Nikki Leigh - www.nikkileigh.com/book_promo_101.htm
Author of the Book Promo 101 Series
Name: Christee Gabour Atwood
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
What do I want people to know? Mainly that I should serve as an inspiration to them. If I can achieve any sort of success in the world of writing, speaking, and promotions, then anyone can.
I’m originally from central Louisiana and I’ve moved around a bit due to my career-induced A.D.D. I love communication in any form and writing is my true passion.
Since I was four years old I’ve been telling people I would be a writer when I grew up. Well, either that or a singing veterinarian who fights fires and solves mysteries in her spare time. That career lost a little interest to me when I hit six years old. That’s when I got a typewriter.
As far as writing goes, I’ve done everything wrong. I wrote columns for free. I self-published first. I quit my day job. I write numerous books at one time so I don’t get bored with any of them. My first draft is often my final draft. I do ridiculous stunts to draw attention to my books. And I would do it all again … for nothing … which is pretty much the amount I’ve made after all the expenses are subtracted.
What inspired you to write your first book?
At four years old I wrote an incredible novel titled, The Lion Who Tamed the Man. Well, it was incredible because it didn’t have a whole lot of words. Mostly scribbles, pictures, and an occasional smear of Hershey Bar. But it was well received by the critics in my house and from that moment on, I was hooked on writing.
I was raised in a house where writing was as natural as breathing. My parents owned and ran a weekly newspaper. Instead of a bassinet, I slept in the bottom drawer of the file cabinet of The Pineville News. How could I not write?
When I was six, my parents gave me a cast iron Royal typewriter. I promptly took over the hot water heater closet at the house and turned it into my office where I wrote novels, short stories, and the typical angst poetry once I hit puberty. I think that was around the age of 20.
How many books have you written?
Five. Two humor. Three nonfiction business titles. The first was my self-published book, Journal of a Midlife Crisis. It was picked up by a publisher after I built up some good numbers on it. Then it was expanded, rewritten, and adapted to become Three Feet Under: Journal of a Midlife Crisis. My business books are Succession Planning Basics, Presentation Skills Training, and Manager Skills Training.
How do you decide on their topic?
The humor books are based on everyday life. I realized that I had gotten to a wonderful point in life where I was starting to get comfortable in my own skin. In fact, I was actually proud of my love affair with elastic waistbands. So it seemed time to share that joy with the world.
I started these books as humor columns for newspapers and magazines. Then I looked at a pile of those columns I had written and said, “Wow, that looks like a book.” And behold, it magically turned into a book!
The business books were selected through a void in the market that was recognized by my new publisher, ASTD Press. Those are some really cool people to work with. They weren’t even scared off by my chicken suit.
What works best to keep you focused and on track?
Writing quickly and in long shifts. I have the attention span of a gnat, so once I get started I have to keep writing for a long time. That’s because once I get up from that chair, I will have to re-read most of what I wrote just to remember where I was and get started again. That’s why I avoid stopping until something like a call of nature or a cat gnawing on my toes in hunger makes it impossible to go on. And if I see a shiny object, I’m lost from my writing for the day.
I also like writing short format materials. My columns are just long enough to keep my attention and I think much of the world shares that short attention span today. So, my writing ends up making a good bathroom book. As long as that’s the only use for it in the bathroom, I’m happy. It’s not on quilted paper, so I think I’m safe on avoiding other uses.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
I’d write even if I didn’t make money from it. And it’s a darn good thing, because quite often I don’t.
I love writing. I couldn’t stand not to write. It’s my form of therapy and it’s so much cheaper than a psychiatrist.
I do business writing too and that’s great because the speaking, training, and consulting from that writing brings in a lot more cash than my humor writing. And I like the idea that what I write helps people in the business world. I write training manuals and books that remind people to treat each other with respect. And my humorous side sneaks in and reminds them that a rubber chicken can be a very useful tool in a board meeting. (You’ll have to read my book to find out how!) So, I get the best of both worlds.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
I’ve used the basic methods of sending press releases, calling for television and radio interviews, and sending out ready-made feature articles and have gotten a really good response from this.
I created a folded handout that includes chapters from my books that I use in my presentations.
I am a columnist and include a tagline in all my columns that promotes my books.
I created a presentation for writers called, “Overnight Success … The 48-Year Method.” We talk about everything I’ve done wrong on the road to getting published. Well, not everything… that would take days, maybe weeks…
I do presentations for writers groups and libraries on topics ranging from “Presentation Skills for Writers” to “Tracking Down the Muse” and “National Novel Writing Month.”
I have more designs for bookmarks than I care to admit. And I spent my entire time at BookExpo America wearing tacky shirts that promoted the book and said, “Will Speak for Food”.
Sometimes I’m surprised that I haven’t ended up putting information on the restroom walls … hey, wait, that’s not a bad idea…
What are some unique methods?
Are you sure you want to hear this? It’s more than a little scary.
Last year, for National Novel Writing Month, I put on a chicken suit and sat in the window of a Waldenbooks for a month, writing a novel called, “Danger, Deceit, and a Demon … named Myron”. I got some incredible press – in fact, you can even see the article on CBS News webpage at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/08/print/main2241177.shtml
I was on the national radio show, The Satellite Sisters, and other various radio shows, television shows, and possibly even made it into a junior high school newspaper, but that might have just been a rumor.
I’ve emceed a Menopause Fashion Show for a hospital. Lots of elastic in that one. I’ve done talks for anyone who would stand still – and that includes turning around in elevators and saying, “I suppose you wonder why I called this meeting.”
I’ve offered myself as a fill-in guest for any radio or tv show within driving radius on a very short turnaround time. I’ve gotten calls with “We’re taping in 30 minutes. Can you talk about something?” and I’ve done it.
After the chicken suit episode, I got a reputation and ended up hosting the Harry Potter Release Party at a mall in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Now, they’ve called me back to be Mrs. Claus. I’m working on a promotion idea right now to do a “mall tour” because I can create promotional events with malls and I can shop at the same time. Sounds like heaven to me.
I created a Girls Night Out group that met at a local bookstore and discussed our midlife adventures. We later moved to bars and liked it much better… although we tended to forget what we had talked about.
Do you sell through a website?
Christee.biz
I have a link to places you can buy the book on my website. I believe that web presence is something on which I haven’t focused enough. That’s part of the reason for this tour. It’s giving me an opportunity to start making better use of the web as a forum to visit with potential readers.
I have begun to create humor and business podcasts and podtrainings for companies and will begin to compile these on my site as well as additional related merchandise.
Do you plan on writing additional books?
Whether I want to or not and whether they get published or not, I will continue to write books. The next book will be completed by November 30th as part of National Novel Writing Month. It’s titled, “In Celebration of Elastic Waistbands”.
Writing is my joy. And it’s my opportunity to laugh at myself with others. As I like to say, “If I laugh at myself first, then the rest of the world is laughing with me, not at me.”
Interview Presented by
Nikki Leigh - www.nikkileigh.com/book_promo_101.htm
Author of the Book Promo 101 Series
Promotional Interview with Sapphire Phelan
You have been invited to share you experience with our readers.
Name: Sapphire Phelan
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know) I am from Chesterfield, Virginia, which is a suburb of Richmond. I was always writing, starting making up and writing down on paper when I was eight. I got published when I was seventeen, with three poems in a poetry magazine, Hyacinths and Biscuits that was from Los Angeles. Got paid for them too—so cool to a teenager. When I am not writing? I have done acting for a living too, not in past couple years though. I also do costuming, make or sew costumes, mainly SF, Fantasy, Horror and historical, and wear them at conventions or other kinds of events. I also do crafts, read, send time with my husband, garden (in spring, summer and fall), spend time with friends, exercise at Curves, go to conventions, check out local events, movies and rent and watch DVDs.
What inspired you to write your first book? It was an e-book, Crimson Promise. I realized I like to read paranormal romance and since I write what I read wrote a vampire romance that was different enough to attract the publisher, Lady Aibell Press.
How many books have you written? 5 e-books through Lady Aibell Press, Twilight Fantasies Publications and LoveYouDivine.com. I also have an Amazon Short, a sweet super hero romance story, To Save the Day, in electronic form up at Amazon. I also have another, a novella, Beast Magic coming to Phaze in October. I also have erotic and dark romance stories in three of the Forbidden Love series published by Under the Moon. There’s to hopefully be three more of the print books and I do have stories submitted for them too.
How do you decide on their topic? If an anthology had a basic theme then I write a story around that. Unless they asked for particular subject, the e-books are those I write a story and submit to publishers. Beast Magic, I wrote over 20,000 words, edited it and then used it to pitch to the Phaze editor at Epic-con back in March. As for the Amazon Short I had this super hero romance short story I had written and thought, why not?
What works best to keep you focused and on track? I tell myself. It’s as simple as that. In the long run, it’s up to the author to police themselves, especially with a manuscript due.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing? I do it for love. Bur I want to make money at what I love to do. Most of us, including me have had to do jobs we don’t like but do so in order to survive these days. I have always loved to make up stories and poems, so this is my job. My husband let me quit my job to do writing. Not everyone has a husband who supports you like that and I am thankful for him. And I am thankful for those who read my romances.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)? Reviews, interviews, guest at conventions, online chats, give away contests off my website or in chats.
What are some unique methods? Set up signings in different type of locale, like in a coffee shop locally.
Do you sell through a website? No. I do give links to where the books and others can be bought though. My site is the best way to keep up with me: http://FantasticDreams.50megs.com Also check out my MySpace at www.myspace.com/SapphirePhelan and blog at http://SapphirePhelansPassionCorner.blogspot.com as I do let readers know there too. I also have a newsletter people can join for free at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SapphirePhelansParanormalNewsletter
Do you plan on writing additional books? Oh yes. I’ll be working on more in the shapeshifter world of Beast Magic for Phaze and a novella sequel to The Curse, which came out by Twilight Fantasies Publications. And I do have half way done a SF/futuristic romance novel that someday I will finish.
Interview Presented by -
Nikki Leigh - www.nikkileigh.com/Promo.htm
www.nikkileigh.com/book_promo_101.htm
Name: Sapphire Phelan
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know) I am from Chesterfield, Virginia, which is a suburb of Richmond. I was always writing, starting making up and writing down on paper when I was eight. I got published when I was seventeen, with three poems in a poetry magazine, Hyacinths and Biscuits that was from Los Angeles. Got paid for them too—so cool to a teenager. When I am not writing? I have done acting for a living too, not in past couple years though. I also do costuming, make or sew costumes, mainly SF, Fantasy, Horror and historical, and wear them at conventions or other kinds of events. I also do crafts, read, send time with my husband, garden (in spring, summer and fall), spend time with friends, exercise at Curves, go to conventions, check out local events, movies and rent and watch DVDs.
What inspired you to write your first book? It was an e-book, Crimson Promise. I realized I like to read paranormal romance and since I write what I read wrote a vampire romance that was different enough to attract the publisher, Lady Aibell Press.
How many books have you written? 5 e-books through Lady Aibell Press, Twilight Fantasies Publications and LoveYouDivine.com. I also have an Amazon Short, a sweet super hero romance story, To Save the Day, in electronic form up at Amazon. I also have another, a novella, Beast Magic coming to Phaze in October. I also have erotic and dark romance stories in three of the Forbidden Love series published by Under the Moon. There’s to hopefully be three more of the print books and I do have stories submitted for them too.
How do you decide on their topic? If an anthology had a basic theme then I write a story around that. Unless they asked for particular subject, the e-books are those I write a story and submit to publishers. Beast Magic, I wrote over 20,000 words, edited it and then used it to pitch to the Phaze editor at Epic-con back in March. As for the Amazon Short I had this super hero romance short story I had written and thought, why not?
What works best to keep you focused and on track? I tell myself. It’s as simple as that. In the long run, it’s up to the author to police themselves, especially with a manuscript due.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing? I do it for love. Bur I want to make money at what I love to do. Most of us, including me have had to do jobs we don’t like but do so in order to survive these days. I have always loved to make up stories and poems, so this is my job. My husband let me quit my job to do writing. Not everyone has a husband who supports you like that and I am thankful for him. And I am thankful for those who read my romances.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)? Reviews, interviews, guest at conventions, online chats, give away contests off my website or in chats.
What are some unique methods? Set up signings in different type of locale, like in a coffee shop locally.
Do you sell through a website? No. I do give links to where the books and others can be bought though. My site is the best way to keep up with me: http://FantasticDreams.50megs.com Also check out my MySpace at www.myspace.com/SapphirePhelan and blog at http://SapphirePhelansPassionCorner.blogspot.com as I do let readers know there too. I also have a newsletter people can join for free at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SapphirePhelansParanormalNewsletter
Do you plan on writing additional books? Oh yes. I’ll be working on more in the shapeshifter world of Beast Magic for Phaze and a novella sequel to The Curse, which came out by Twilight Fantasies Publications. And I do have half way done a SF/futuristic romance novel that someday I will finish.
Interview Presented by -
Nikki Leigh - www.nikkileigh.com/Promo.htm
www.nikkileigh.com/book_promo_101.htm
Promotional Interview -- Nadia Aidan
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
Born in Atlanta Georgia, and raised in Washington DC, my mother was an avid reader so I grew up surrounded by books and always dreamed of becoming a romance novelist. I had to put that dream on hold as I tackled finishing my doctorate degree in Political Science and Public Policy. Now as an Assistant Professor I have finally come to a place in my life where I can devote myself to my passion of writing.
In addition to writing erotic romances I enjoy reading other authors, playing flag football, studying muay thai, working out, listening to music, and scuba diving.
My other interests include collecting Top Cow comics, especially Witchblade and Tomb Raider. I love professional football and soccer. My favorite teams are the Washington Redskins and Manchester United, respectively.
What inspired you to write your first book?
I began writing about a year ago when I was finishing my dissertation, but once I finished my dissertation I didn’t look at the novels again. It wasn’t until my mom was diagnosed with uterine cancer that I began searching for an outlet for the emotional highs and lows of taking care of her. My mom recently lost her battle to cancer, which finally gave me the courage to submit my work. My mother was (and continues to be in spirit) my biggest cheerleader and support system. She was a strong, courageous woman who wasn’t afraid of anything and she raised me to be the same. I know she would have been disappointed in me if I let insecurity and fear stop me from submitting my work.
How many books have you written?
So many that I really can't count off the top of my head! However, besides Enthralled, I currently have three books unver review with publishers, so officially four!
How do you decide on their topic?
I write what inspires me a the moment. Whatever I feel like seeing on paper I just sit down there and write it.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
For the love of it of course! As a new writer, this isn't even about money. I mainly wanted to simply PUBLISH my book and now that I have I want to just get my name out there because I truly believe in my work and have such a passion for what I do that I want to share it!
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
I submitted Enthralled to reviewers, although in hindsight I should have done it sooner. I also purchased ad space on several romance sites and marketed myself through several author chats. Finally, I sent promotional materials (bookmarks, notepads, magnets) to several book stores and book clubs.
What are some unique methods?
I don't think anything that I have done has been unusual at all! Although, I will say that I have stepped out of my comfort zone quite a bit. I haven't been in a chat room for over fifteen years and I certainly haven't posted a blog in close to two but promoting my book has driven me to rely upon a lot of media tools that I normally don't use.
Do you sell through a website?
I do! Go to www.nadiaaidan.com
Do you plan on writing additional books?
I am working on a five book contemporary series titled Friends and Lovers. The first title, Sweet Revenge is currently under review with an editor and hopefully it will be released in the next few months. This is actually the first book I ever wrote so it is very dear to my heart
Interview Presented by -
Nikki Leigh
www.nikkileigh.com/book_promo_101.htm
Born in Atlanta Georgia, and raised in Washington DC, my mother was an avid reader so I grew up surrounded by books and always dreamed of becoming a romance novelist. I had to put that dream on hold as I tackled finishing my doctorate degree in Political Science and Public Policy. Now as an Assistant Professor I have finally come to a place in my life where I can devote myself to my passion of writing.
In addition to writing erotic romances I enjoy reading other authors, playing flag football, studying muay thai, working out, listening to music, and scuba diving.
My other interests include collecting Top Cow comics, especially Witchblade and Tomb Raider. I love professional football and soccer. My favorite teams are the Washington Redskins and Manchester United, respectively.
What inspired you to write your first book?
I began writing about a year ago when I was finishing my dissertation, but once I finished my dissertation I didn’t look at the novels again. It wasn’t until my mom was diagnosed with uterine cancer that I began searching for an outlet for the emotional highs and lows of taking care of her. My mom recently lost her battle to cancer, which finally gave me the courage to submit my work. My mother was (and continues to be in spirit) my biggest cheerleader and support system. She was a strong, courageous woman who wasn’t afraid of anything and she raised me to be the same. I know she would have been disappointed in me if I let insecurity and fear stop me from submitting my work.
How many books have you written?
So many that I really can't count off the top of my head! However, besides Enthralled, I currently have three books unver review with publishers, so officially four!
How do you decide on their topic?
I write what inspires me a the moment. Whatever I feel like seeing on paper I just sit down there and write it.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
For the love of it of course! As a new writer, this isn't even about money. I mainly wanted to simply PUBLISH my book and now that I have I want to just get my name out there because I truly believe in my work and have such a passion for what I do that I want to share it!
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
I submitted Enthralled to reviewers, although in hindsight I should have done it sooner. I also purchased ad space on several romance sites and marketed myself through several author chats. Finally, I sent promotional materials (bookmarks, notepads, magnets) to several book stores and book clubs.
What are some unique methods?
I don't think anything that I have done has been unusual at all! Although, I will say that I have stepped out of my comfort zone quite a bit. I haven't been in a chat room for over fifteen years and I certainly haven't posted a blog in close to two but promoting my book has driven me to rely upon a lot of media tools that I normally don't use.
Do you sell through a website?
I do! Go to www.nadiaaidan.com
Do you plan on writing additional books?
I am working on a five book contemporary series titled Friends and Lovers. The first title, Sweet Revenge is currently under review with an editor and hopefully it will be released in the next few months. This is actually the first book I ever wrote so it is very dear to my heart
Interview Presented by -
Nikki Leigh
www.nikkileigh.com/book_promo_101.htm
Promotional Interview with PG Forte
You have been invited to share you experience with our readers.
Name: PG Forte
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
I'm originally from NJ although I've been in California so long I figure I qualify as an honorary native...or maybe a naturalized Californian? I've been writing as long as I can remember. When I was in high school I wrote an ongoing serial that was sort of a roman a clef in reverse: nothing was true but the names of the characters who were all people I knew.
Let's see, when I'm not writing I'm usually...um, miserable? lol! Or reading, plotting, thinking about writing. Okay, so I'm a bit obsessed. *shrug*
What inspired you to write your first book?
I know it sounds strange (not to mention corny), considering that I'm currently writing erotic romance, but one of the biggest inspirations I had to write my first book was my kids.
What I've always wanted most for my kids was for them to be happy and not afraid to follow their dreams. Being a writer had always been a dream of mine so I could hardly expect them to follow their dreams if I was too busy to bother with my own.
How many books have you written?
I just had my twelfth book, Let Me Count the Ways (the third book in the LA Love Lessons series), accepted for publication a few days ago.
How do you decide on their topic? I write fiction and I write to entertain so all I really decide on is what idea can best be turned into an entertaining story.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
I write because I have to. If I'm not writing I tend to be cranky and not much fun to be around. I also write to be read--I absolutely love it when someone tells me they've enjoyed one of my books. I fall in love with my characters and their stories and it's so wonderful to be able to share that with others. But, you know, money's nice too. *grin*
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
Ads in trade magazines, book signings (when I had print books to sign--hard to do that with ebooks), website, newsletter, blog, word of mouth, promotional merchandise, etc.
What are some unique methods?
These virtual book tours and various online features are probably the most 'different' things I've tried. I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of feedback I get from the book trailer for my new release, Love From A to Z.
Do you sell through a website?
I'm epublished so yes, I sell pretty much exclusively through websites primarily my publisher, Liquid Silver Books and Fictionwise. I don't sell directly from my own website though.
Do you plan on writing additional books?
Absolutely. I actually have a page on my website that lists my works in progress: http://www.pgforte.com/WIP.htm
Interview Presented by
Nikki Leigh - Author of Book Promo 101
www.nikkileigh.com/book_promo_101.htm
Name: PG Forte
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
I'm originally from NJ although I've been in California so long I figure I qualify as an honorary native...or maybe a naturalized Californian? I've been writing as long as I can remember. When I was in high school I wrote an ongoing serial that was sort of a roman a clef in reverse: nothing was true but the names of the characters who were all people I knew.
Let's see, when I'm not writing I'm usually...um, miserable? lol! Or reading, plotting, thinking about writing. Okay, so I'm a bit obsessed. *shrug*
What inspired you to write your first book?
I know it sounds strange (not to mention corny), considering that I'm currently writing erotic romance, but one of the biggest inspirations I had to write my first book was my kids.
What I've always wanted most for my kids was for them to be happy and not afraid to follow their dreams. Being a writer had always been a dream of mine so I could hardly expect them to follow their dreams if I was too busy to bother with my own.
How many books have you written?
I just had my twelfth book, Let Me Count the Ways (the third book in the LA Love Lessons series), accepted for publication a few days ago.
How do you decide on their topic? I write fiction and I write to entertain so all I really decide on is what idea can best be turned into an entertaining story.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
I write because I have to. If I'm not writing I tend to be cranky and not much fun to be around. I also write to be read--I absolutely love it when someone tells me they've enjoyed one of my books. I fall in love with my characters and their stories and it's so wonderful to be able to share that with others. But, you know, money's nice too. *grin*
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
Ads in trade magazines, book signings (when I had print books to sign--hard to do that with ebooks), website, newsletter, blog, word of mouth, promotional merchandise, etc.
What are some unique methods?
These virtual book tours and various online features are probably the most 'different' things I've tried. I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of feedback I get from the book trailer for my new release, Love From A to Z.
Do you sell through a website?
I'm epublished so yes, I sell pretty much exclusively through websites primarily my publisher, Liquid Silver Books and Fictionwise. I don't sell directly from my own website though.
Do you plan on writing additional books?
Absolutely. I actually have a page on my website that lists my works in progress: http://www.pgforte.com/WIP.htm
Interview Presented by
Nikki Leigh - Author of Book Promo 101
www.nikkileigh.com/book_promo_101.htm
Promotional Interview with Mayra Calvani
Name: Mayra Calvani
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
I was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but have lived in the US, the Middle East, and now live in Belgium. My traveling and learning all these different cultures have been an inspiration in my writing, as having a Hispanic heritage has been as well. I was an early avid reader and my first passion for books developed after I read the first Agatha Christie mystery. I was instantly drawn to the fantastic world of these imaginary stories. Then came the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. During my teens I was also an avid reader of romance novels, though I don’t read much romance anymore. I started writing in my early teens. I was always the quiet, shy type and preferred my escape world of imaginary places and characters instead of going to parties—so no, I was not one of the popular girls at school. But I didn’t care. I was happy and self motivated. My love for writing has continued all my life and I now write fulltime. It’s been an arduous road and there’s a lot of competition, but that’s fine with me because I enjoy the journey as well.
What inspired you to write your first book?
I guess I couldn’t escape from my imagination and from the force that propelled me to bring those stories to life and live through them. I wrote my first ‘book’ when I was fifteen, but that one was never published—fortunately! :-)
How many books have you written?
I have written eight books—two of these, Embraced by the Shadows and Dark Lullaby, have already been published, and the others will see publication later this year and some time during 2008-9.
How do you decide on their topic?
I don’t really ‘decide’. The topic, idea, or whatever it is, comes to me and tells me to put it down into words. I hardly ever plan ahead or do an outline. I mostly follow that voice in my head that tells me what to write. Think of it as taking dictation. That said, there are many things that may spark my inspiration and creativity—the ‘dark’ side of things, violin music, foreign settings and characters, science and philosophy, an unusual book or movie, etc.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
If it were for the money, I would have quit a long time ago! LOL. Definitely for the love of writing. Of course, my goal is to make some real money as well. Every writer needs validation of some kind.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
I have two websites, one for my adult books and the other for my children’s books (www.mayracalvani.com and www.mayrassecretbookcase.com). I also have three blogs where I promote my work and feature other authors’ work as well:
http://mcalvani.livejournal.com
www.thedarkphantom.com
www.mayrassecretbookcase.blogpsot.com (children’s books)
In addition, I edit a newsletter (www.thefountainpen.blogspot.com) and co-edit another one (www.mysteryfiction.net/Voiceinthedarknewsletter.html). These are all venues to promote my name and books.
Of course, I request as many reviews I can for my books, and I also write book reviews for various high-profile sites like www.blogcritics.org and www.americanchronicle.com.
What are some unique methods?
Since I write articles as well, I distribute them using various article directories like www.ezinearticles.com and www.associatedcontent.com. I always include a byline with links to my sites and blogs and this results in thousands of hits every month. I’m a member of www.gather.com, BookPlace, Facebook, and numerous authors and writing groups and forums, and I always make an announcement in these when I have a book coming out or have some other important news to share.
Virtual Book Tours is another new way of promotion which I have discovered, a way to reach thousands of readers without having to travel.
Do you sell through a website?
No. I let my publishers handle that.
Do you plan on writing additional books?
Definitely. I have several works in progress and enough ideas to keep me busy for at least the next two decades. :-)
Interview Presented By
Nikki Leigh - Author of Book Promo 101
www.nikkileigh.com/book_promo_101.htm
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
I was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but have lived in the US, the Middle East, and now live in Belgium. My traveling and learning all these different cultures have been an inspiration in my writing, as having a Hispanic heritage has been as well. I was an early avid reader and my first passion for books developed after I read the first Agatha Christie mystery. I was instantly drawn to the fantastic world of these imaginary stories. Then came the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. During my teens I was also an avid reader of romance novels, though I don’t read much romance anymore. I started writing in my early teens. I was always the quiet, shy type and preferred my escape world of imaginary places and characters instead of going to parties—so no, I was not one of the popular girls at school. But I didn’t care. I was happy and self motivated. My love for writing has continued all my life and I now write fulltime. It’s been an arduous road and there’s a lot of competition, but that’s fine with me because I enjoy the journey as well.
What inspired you to write your first book?
I guess I couldn’t escape from my imagination and from the force that propelled me to bring those stories to life and live through them. I wrote my first ‘book’ when I was fifteen, but that one was never published—fortunately! :-)
How many books have you written?
I have written eight books—two of these, Embraced by the Shadows and Dark Lullaby, have already been published, and the others will see publication later this year and some time during 2008-9.
How do you decide on their topic?
I don’t really ‘decide’. The topic, idea, or whatever it is, comes to me and tells me to put it down into words. I hardly ever plan ahead or do an outline. I mostly follow that voice in my head that tells me what to write. Think of it as taking dictation. That said, there are many things that may spark my inspiration and creativity—the ‘dark’ side of things, violin music, foreign settings and characters, science and philosophy, an unusual book or movie, etc.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
If it were for the money, I would have quit a long time ago! LOL. Definitely for the love of writing. Of course, my goal is to make some real money as well. Every writer needs validation of some kind.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
I have two websites, one for my adult books and the other for my children’s books (www.mayracalvani.com and www.mayrassecretbookcase.com). I also have three blogs where I promote my work and feature other authors’ work as well:
http://mcalvani.livejournal.com
www.thedarkphantom.com
www.mayrassecretbookcase.blogpsot.com (children’s books)
In addition, I edit a newsletter (www.thefountainpen.blogspot.com) and co-edit another one (www.mysteryfiction.net/Voiceinthedarknewsletter.html). These are all venues to promote my name and books.
Of course, I request as many reviews I can for my books, and I also write book reviews for various high-profile sites like www.blogcritics.org and www.americanchronicle.com.
What are some unique methods?
Since I write articles as well, I distribute them using various article directories like www.ezinearticles.com and www.associatedcontent.com. I always include a byline with links to my sites and blogs and this results in thousands of hits every month. I’m a member of www.gather.com, BookPlace, Facebook, and numerous authors and writing groups and forums, and I always make an announcement in these when I have a book coming out or have some other important news to share.
Virtual Book Tours is another new way of promotion which I have discovered, a way to reach thousands of readers without having to travel.
Do you sell through a website?
No. I let my publishers handle that.
Do you plan on writing additional books?
Definitely. I have several works in progress and enough ideas to keep me busy for at least the next two decades. :-)
Interview Presented By
Nikki Leigh - Author of Book Promo 101
www.nikkileigh.com/book_promo_101.htm
Promotional Interview with Elena Dorothy Bowman
You have been invited to share you experience with our readers.
Name: Elena Dorothy Bowman
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
I grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts with my parents and four brothers. Graduated from the local high school and went on to a secretarial school. It wasn't my choice, it was my parents. Since I was more interested in aeronautics I joined the local Civil Air Patrol to satisfy my obsession with flight, and yes, we did fly. After graduating from the secretarial school I met and married my husband, and went to work for the United States Navy in Washington, D.C. with the Bureau of Ordinance. My husband, who is a Navy veteran, decided to enter Northeastern University, so we came back to Massachusetts and I took a position with the Department of The Army while my husband was earning his degree in Engineering. After the birth of our second daughter I decided to stay home to raise our girls. In the following years the birth of my two sons added to our family. After the birth of our second son, we moved from my parent's home in Dorchester to our own home in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Due to financial problems I went back to work for an aerospace company, and in doing so, entered their college program to earn a degree in Engineering and Management. Graduating with honors, I was promoted to a software engineer in their Missile Division. I tested, researched and wrote technical papers dealing with the work I was engaged in. Meanwhile, my children were growing up and each have entered various colleges and earned degrees in Engineering, Physics, Gemology, Film, while one decided to change disciplines and is pursuing a degree in Law. My husband and I worked for the same company for more than 25 years, and we both retired at the same time. I now write full time.
I have been writing for over thirty years. I actually started writing when I was a teen-ager, although I didn't submit any of it for publication. I started to write in earnest as a challenge to myself. I really wanted to see if I could write a full-length novel, not just short stories or the technical papers that I was working on. The only professional organization I presently belong to is the National League of American PenWomen where I am the President of the Merrimack Valley Branch of the NLAPW.
What inspired you to write your first book?
I started writing fiction seriously during my lunch hours at work. I needed the diversion since most of my writing at that time was devoted to technical writing. With my first published novel, I guess it started with my smoking. Yes, I used to smoke. I don't now, haven't for many years. But one day while sitting in my office during a break, after a real rough morning, I lit a cigarette.
I watched the curled smoke from my cigarette rise toward the corner of the office disappearing into a crack in the wall. I watched this for several minutes wondering where the smoke was going. Was it just being swallowed up into the wall, or did it vanish into the nooks and crannies that were hidden from view and led to God knows where. Needless to say, my imagination took hold and before I knew it I was writing the first chapter to my science fiction/mystery/romance novel Sarah's Landing-I-Contact. I have since taken the smoking aspect out of the story and replaced that part of it with a human being — the lead character — which ultimately led to the birth of four complete novels in The Sarah's Landing Series. All four books in the series have been released in ebook format by Write Words, Inc., ebooksonthe.net. The print editions will be released by their imprint Cambridge Books.
How many books have you written?
At present, I have written eight full novels and one novella. All of my books have been published in ebook format by Write Words, Inc.'s ebooksonthe.net. Two are presently in trade paperback editions, with the others to be released by Write Words, Inc.'s Cambridge Books.
How do you decide on their topic?
With the first novel I wrote, I had already decided on a science fiction theme. Deciding on the title took more time than I thought it would, but I finally ended up with Sarah's Landing-I-Contact. I didn't expect to write a series, but that's what happened. Sarah's Landing became a four novel series. After I completed the first novel, the thought for the second, third, and fourth, novels just seemed to make themselves known and wanted to be written.
When the series was complete, I thought of trying a mystery, and that too, ended into a three-book series. The thought for another novel thrust itself forward when I wondered, what if the continent that existed in times past, didn't really completely disappear…that's when Time-Rift was born.
The novella was based on a true story.
What works best to keep you focused and on track?
When family members are busy doing their own thing and leave me be. Sometimes the afternoons are quiet enough to keep me focused. But now that the kids are up and out, as long as there isn't anything pressing, I can devote my time to writing.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
Well I haven't been as successful as JK Rowling, so I guess it must be for the love of it. My husband says I'm obsessed.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
Book signings at major book stores, Press Releases, Interviews with local newspapers and television stations. Library Author Days, postcards, gift shops and word of mouth.
What are some unique methods?
Through the Internet with all the available opportunities I find. Writer's groups, some paying, some not, blogs, myspace, gather, and many other avenues.
Do you sell through a website?
No, I sell through book signings, groups meetings, book stores and gift shops, neighbors I catch walking around the neighborhood and any other place I can.
Do you plan on writing additional books?
Yes, actually, I am close to completing one book and have another in the works. I would say the one I am presently working on might be considered science fiction or paranormal. The other I have in the works is more of a historical novel which could end up into a series. I am not too clear on that at this point in time.
Interview Presented by
Nikki Leigh - Author of Book Promo 101
www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm
Name: Elena Dorothy Bowman
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
I grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts with my parents and four brothers. Graduated from the local high school and went on to a secretarial school. It wasn't my choice, it was my parents. Since I was more interested in aeronautics I joined the local Civil Air Patrol to satisfy my obsession with flight, and yes, we did fly. After graduating from the secretarial school I met and married my husband, and went to work for the United States Navy in Washington, D.C. with the Bureau of Ordinance. My husband, who is a Navy veteran, decided to enter Northeastern University, so we came back to Massachusetts and I took a position with the Department of The Army while my husband was earning his degree in Engineering. After the birth of our second daughter I decided to stay home to raise our girls. In the following years the birth of my two sons added to our family. After the birth of our second son, we moved from my parent's home in Dorchester to our own home in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Due to financial problems I went back to work for an aerospace company, and in doing so, entered their college program to earn a degree in Engineering and Management. Graduating with honors, I was promoted to a software engineer in their Missile Division. I tested, researched and wrote technical papers dealing with the work I was engaged in. Meanwhile, my children were growing up and each have entered various colleges and earned degrees in Engineering, Physics, Gemology, Film, while one decided to change disciplines and is pursuing a degree in Law. My husband and I worked for the same company for more than 25 years, and we both retired at the same time. I now write full time.
I have been writing for over thirty years. I actually started writing when I was a teen-ager, although I didn't submit any of it for publication. I started to write in earnest as a challenge to myself. I really wanted to see if I could write a full-length novel, not just short stories or the technical papers that I was working on. The only professional organization I presently belong to is the National League of American PenWomen where I am the President of the Merrimack Valley Branch of the NLAPW.
What inspired you to write your first book?
I started writing fiction seriously during my lunch hours at work. I needed the diversion since most of my writing at that time was devoted to technical writing. With my first published novel, I guess it started with my smoking. Yes, I used to smoke. I don't now, haven't for many years. But one day while sitting in my office during a break, after a real rough morning, I lit a cigarette.
I watched the curled smoke from my cigarette rise toward the corner of the office disappearing into a crack in the wall. I watched this for several minutes wondering where the smoke was going. Was it just being swallowed up into the wall, or did it vanish into the nooks and crannies that were hidden from view and led to God knows where. Needless to say, my imagination took hold and before I knew it I was writing the first chapter to my science fiction/mystery/romance novel Sarah's Landing-I-Contact. I have since taken the smoking aspect out of the story and replaced that part of it with a human being — the lead character — which ultimately led to the birth of four complete novels in The Sarah's Landing Series. All four books in the series have been released in ebook format by Write Words, Inc., ebooksonthe.net. The print editions will be released by their imprint Cambridge Books.
How many books have you written?
At present, I have written eight full novels and one novella. All of my books have been published in ebook format by Write Words, Inc.'s ebooksonthe.net. Two are presently in trade paperback editions, with the others to be released by Write Words, Inc.'s Cambridge Books.
How do you decide on their topic?
With the first novel I wrote, I had already decided on a science fiction theme. Deciding on the title took more time than I thought it would, but I finally ended up with Sarah's Landing-I-Contact. I didn't expect to write a series, but that's what happened. Sarah's Landing became a four novel series. After I completed the first novel, the thought for the second, third, and fourth, novels just seemed to make themselves known and wanted to be written.
When the series was complete, I thought of trying a mystery, and that too, ended into a three-book series. The thought for another novel thrust itself forward when I wondered, what if the continent that existed in times past, didn't really completely disappear…that's when Time-Rift was born.
The novella was based on a true story.
What works best to keep you focused and on track?
When family members are busy doing their own thing and leave me be. Sometimes the afternoons are quiet enough to keep me focused. But now that the kids are up and out, as long as there isn't anything pressing, I can devote my time to writing.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
Well I haven't been as successful as JK Rowling, so I guess it must be for the love of it. My husband says I'm obsessed.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
Book signings at major book stores, Press Releases, Interviews with local newspapers and television stations. Library Author Days, postcards, gift shops and word of mouth.
What are some unique methods?
Through the Internet with all the available opportunities I find. Writer's groups, some paying, some not, blogs, myspace, gather, and many other avenues.
Do you sell through a website?
No, I sell through book signings, groups meetings, book stores and gift shops, neighbors I catch walking around the neighborhood and any other place I can.
Do you plan on writing additional books?
Yes, actually, I am close to completing one book and have another in the works. I would say the one I am presently working on might be considered science fiction or paranormal. The other I have in the works is more of a historical novel which could end up into a series. I am not too clear on that at this point in time.
Interview Presented by
Nikki Leigh - Author of Book Promo 101
www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm
Promotional Interview with Kelley Heckart
You have been invited to share you experience with our readers.
Name: Kelley Heckart
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know) I was a musician for many years in Southern California, playing bass for an all-female hard rock band. The breakup of my band and health issues took me on the path to writing. I credit my years as a songwriter/lyricist as my first experience with writing. It seems like most of my time is spent writing or doing research, but I do enjoy reading and going for walks/hikes here in the beautiful desert. Music is something I would like to return to some day.
What inspired you to write your first book? My first book started out as a short story and my Creative Writing teacher encouraged me to turn in into a novel.
How many books have you written? I have written four books so far.
How do you decide on their topic? Everything I write has a fantasy or paranormal element.
What works best to keep you focused and on track? Music. When I listen to music, I am able to release all of that creative energy.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing? I write for the love of writing and the need to tell stories.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)? My main marketing tool is the Internet. I have my own website, blogs and belong to many online groups. I also do at least two book signings at Celtic festivals each year.
What are some unique methods? I don’t think I have any unique methods, but I carry bookmarks with me at all times. I also sell signed copies of my books on eBay, which has been a pretty effective marketing tool.
Do you sell through a website? Yes. I sell signed copies of my books through my website.
Do you plan on writing additional books? Yes. In fact, I am working on a prequel to my Of Water and Dragons series and finishing a trilogy I started, which is set in sixth century Scotland.
Name: Kelley Heckart
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know) I was a musician for many years in Southern California, playing bass for an all-female hard rock band. The breakup of my band and health issues took me on the path to writing. I credit my years as a songwriter/lyricist as my first experience with writing. It seems like most of my time is spent writing or doing research, but I do enjoy reading and going for walks/hikes here in the beautiful desert. Music is something I would like to return to some day.
What inspired you to write your first book? My first book started out as a short story and my Creative Writing teacher encouraged me to turn in into a novel.
How many books have you written? I have written four books so far.
How do you decide on their topic? Everything I write has a fantasy or paranormal element.
What works best to keep you focused and on track? Music. When I listen to music, I am able to release all of that creative energy.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing? I write for the love of writing and the need to tell stories.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)? My main marketing tool is the Internet. I have my own website, blogs and belong to many online groups. I also do at least two book signings at Celtic festivals each year.
What are some unique methods? I don’t think I have any unique methods, but I carry bookmarks with me at all times. I also sell signed copies of my books on eBay, which has been a pretty effective marketing tool.
Do you sell through a website? Yes. I sell signed copies of my books through my website.
Do you plan on writing additional books? Yes. In fact, I am working on a prequel to my Of Water and Dragons series and finishing a trilogy I started, which is set in sixth century Scotland.
Promotional Interview with Earl Hutchinson
You have been invited to share you experience with our readers.
Name: Earl Hutchinson
Tell us about yourself - where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
I'm from Chicago, I got back into writing when I got an offer to be a staff writer at a local newspaper, didn't have a clue what I was doing, but as they say the rest is history, I'm a classical music buff, go to every concert I can
What inspired you to write your first book?
Passion and anger over a subject poverty and African-Americans that I felt no one was dealing with.
How many books have you written? 10
How do you decide on their topic?
My personal interest and passion for investigating/researching the subject.
I also look for ways to go with my writings and subject where no one else has gone.
What works best to keep you focused and on track?
To keep writing and stay focused.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
If you're in it for the money you won't last, you got to get joy from the craft of putting ideas and pen to paper.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
Word of mouth, my columns, blogs, and interviews
What are some unique methods?
I rely a lot on my columns (taglines to books and links always there).
Do you sell through a website?
Not anymore have a solid distributor
Do you plan on writing additional books?
Yes, The Ethnic Presidency: How Race Decides the Race to the White House January 2008
www.middlepassagepress.com
Nikki Leigh – Fiction Author – www.nikkileigh.com
Promotional Services - www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm
“Coastal Suspense with a Touch of Romance”
Name: Earl Hutchinson
Tell us about yourself - where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
I'm from Chicago, I got back into writing when I got an offer to be a staff writer at a local newspaper, didn't have a clue what I was doing, but as they say the rest is history, I'm a classical music buff, go to every concert I can
What inspired you to write your first book?
Passion and anger over a subject poverty and African-Americans that I felt no one was dealing with.
How many books have you written? 10
How do you decide on their topic?
My personal interest and passion for investigating/researching the subject.
I also look for ways to go with my writings and subject where no one else has gone.
What works best to keep you focused and on track?
To keep writing and stay focused.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
If you're in it for the money you won't last, you got to get joy from the craft of putting ideas and pen to paper.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
Word of mouth, my columns, blogs, and interviews
What are some unique methods?
I rely a lot on my columns (taglines to books and links always there).
Do you sell through a website?
Not anymore have a solid distributor
Do you plan on writing additional books?
Yes, The Ethnic Presidency: How Race Decides the Race to the White House January 2008
www.middlepassagepress.com
Nikki Leigh – Fiction Author – www.nikkileigh.com
Promotional Services - www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm
“Coastal Suspense with a Touch of Romance”
Promotional Interview with Angela Adams
You have been invited to share you experience with our readers.
Name: Angela Adams
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
My name is Angela Adams and I currently reside in Ocala, Florida. I started writing when I was little. I even won a Young Author Award for a short kids book I wrote in 3rd grade. I loved to write and always said when I grew up I would write books in my spare time. I also write a lot of poetry. When I am not writing I am usually working my full-time job for Atlantic Publishing. I also spend time with my friends and boyfriend. I really enjoy just being at home and relaxing.
What inspired you to write your first book?
Working for Atlantic has given me a lot of opportunities I never would have had otherwise. When an author was cancelling out on a project and I still could not find a new author to hire, I was told I could do it. The eBay Success Chronicles involved a lot of interviewing and journalism-type skills which is what my emphasis was with my Communications degree. I loved it and really learned a lot of what all it takes to get a book completed.
How many books have you written?
I have one published and two others in the works.
How do you decide on their topic?
I don’t have a choice since the books are all planned ahead of time by the publisher. However, I do work on my own novel in my spare time and hope to one day get it published. It is just a fiction book—a drama of sorts.
What works best to keep you focused and on track?
Sitting at the table with my laptop and no TV on, no music, and no one home. Spreading out all your notes and just going at it. The rest of the time I have a hard time concentrating and tend to get easily distracted.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
I love to write! If you want to make a lot of money, more often than not writing is not the best option for you. You have to love writing and readers will see that in your books.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
I use affiliate marketing, a Web site, postcard mailings, and e-mail blasts.
What are some unique methods?
Looking for specific people who I know will want my book—such as eBay instructors or teachers who would be willing to make it a requirement for their students.
Do you sell through a website?
Yes, www.acafreelance.com and the publisher also sells heavily through www.atlantic–pub.com and Amazon as well as other major online stores.
Do you plan on writing additional books?
Yes! I just finished book # 2 and am 50% done with book # 3. The next goal is try my hand with my fiction.
Name: Angela Adams
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
My name is Angela Adams and I currently reside in Ocala, Florida. I started writing when I was little. I even won a Young Author Award for a short kids book I wrote in 3rd grade. I loved to write and always said when I grew up I would write books in my spare time. I also write a lot of poetry. When I am not writing I am usually working my full-time job for Atlantic Publishing. I also spend time with my friends and boyfriend. I really enjoy just being at home and relaxing.
What inspired you to write your first book?
Working for Atlantic has given me a lot of opportunities I never would have had otherwise. When an author was cancelling out on a project and I still could not find a new author to hire, I was told I could do it. The eBay Success Chronicles involved a lot of interviewing and journalism-type skills which is what my emphasis was with my Communications degree. I loved it and really learned a lot of what all it takes to get a book completed.
How many books have you written?
I have one published and two others in the works.
How do you decide on their topic?
I don’t have a choice since the books are all planned ahead of time by the publisher. However, I do work on my own novel in my spare time and hope to one day get it published. It is just a fiction book—a drama of sorts.
What works best to keep you focused and on track?
Sitting at the table with my laptop and no TV on, no music, and no one home. Spreading out all your notes and just going at it. The rest of the time I have a hard time concentrating and tend to get easily distracted.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
I love to write! If you want to make a lot of money, more often than not writing is not the best option for you. You have to love writing and readers will see that in your books.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
I use affiliate marketing, a Web site, postcard mailings, and e-mail blasts.
What are some unique methods?
Looking for specific people who I know will want my book—such as eBay instructors or teachers who would be willing to make it a requirement for their students.
Do you sell through a website?
Yes, www.acafreelance.com and the publisher also sells heavily through www.atlantic–pub.com and Amazon as well as other major online stores.
Do you plan on writing additional books?
Yes! I just finished book # 2 and am 50% done with book # 3. The next goal is try my hand with my fiction.
Promotional Interview with Michelle Dunn
You have been invited to share you experience with our readers.
Name: Michelle Dunn
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know) . I am a recovering debt collector who has spent the last 20 years stepping into dangerous debt collection potholes. I am a successful business women and the author of an award winning book as well as 6 other published books. I am the founder and president of my 10 year old Credit & Collections Association with thousands of members.
What inspired you to write your first book?
The people who were contacting me and asking me how they could do what I was doing, which was working for myself after starting my own collection agency.
How many books have you written?
Seven that are published. I have another book that is complete that I am debating having published or self publishing.
How do you decide on their topic?
I base my topics on what my target audience asks for information on and try to provide what is needed.
What works best to keep you focused and on track?
I treat my writing like a job. I work every day. Money is also a good motivation.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
To make money, though I enjoy writing and what I do.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
Writing press releases and articles.
What are some unique methods?
Giving books away for free.
Do you sell through a website?
Yes my own and through vendors who also have the same target audience and through amazon.com
Do you plan on writing additional books?
Yes!
Name: Michelle Dunn
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know) . I am a recovering debt collector who has spent the last 20 years stepping into dangerous debt collection potholes. I am a successful business women and the author of an award winning book as well as 6 other published books. I am the founder and president of my 10 year old Credit & Collections Association with thousands of members.
What inspired you to write your first book?
The people who were contacting me and asking me how they could do what I was doing, which was working for myself after starting my own collection agency.
How many books have you written?
Seven that are published. I have another book that is complete that I am debating having published or self publishing.
How do you decide on their topic?
I base my topics on what my target audience asks for information on and try to provide what is needed.
What works best to keep you focused and on track?
I treat my writing like a job. I work every day. Money is also a good motivation.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
To make money, though I enjoy writing and what I do.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
Writing press releases and articles.
What are some unique methods?
Giving books away for free.
Do you sell through a website?
Yes my own and through vendors who also have the same target audience and through amazon.com
Do you plan on writing additional books?
Yes!
Promotional Interview with Linda Mooney
You have been invited to share you experience with our readers.
Name: Linda Mooney
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
I am a full time Kindergarten teacher who writes sensuous romances at night (and during her summers off). My home is a small town in south Texas where I live with my husband of 25+ years, and we have two sons.
I started writing when I was in elementary school, graduated to fanfiction in ‘89, and didn’t start to branch out into my own worlds until ‘96. After my hubby’s successful heart transplant, he encouraged me to start submitting my books to publishers.
Gee, when I’m not writing? LOL! I like to travel and visit friends and family. If I’m home, 99% of the time my butt’s parked in front of the computer.
What inspired you to write your first book?
Umm, truthfully, I was writing fanfiction but I was tired of having to restrict myself to someone else’s world. I wanted to create my own characters, give them my settings and personalities and problems. Writing fanfiction gave me a great start in how to keep focused, how to be creative, and how to think outside the box.
How many books have you written?
To date I’ve written 19 books and 7 short stories. Some are already published, some are contracted, and the rest are in submission.
The majority are sci-fi or fantasy (or a mixture of both) romances, one short is a contemporary, and some are erotic which I write under a pen name.
How do you decide on their topic?
Oh, geez, a hard one! LOL! I have NO idea how I come up with them. But I do know that I can take a photo, or a title, or a simple phrase and come up with a book if I want.
What works best to keep you focused and on track?
My iPod. I make a little “soundtrack album” of each book I’m currently working on, and I listen to it to keep me in the right mood, frame of mind, and focused.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
For years it’s been the love of writing. The money is a perk.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
My personal website (lindamooney.com). Email loops. Book trailers of my own creation that I upload on YouTube (as LindaM54), MySpace (myspace.com/lindamooney), and My Book Place. “Free” sites like MySpace and Book Place. The Romance Galleria. Amazon.com.
What are some unique methods?
The newest wave is Book Trailers. These are a wonderful way to create interest in a book! I believe that in that short 1-2 min. bite you can catch a prospective reader’s eye that you may not have had otherwise.
Do you sell through a website?
Yes. Through my publishers’ websites, and through my own (lindamooney.com) where I offer autographed copies of my paperbacks.
Do you plan on writing additional books?
That’s a given. LOL! I love what I’m doing! Hopefully in 3 years I can retire from teaching (I already have in 30 years) and do this full time.
Thank you again for interviewing me! I am honored!
Name: Linda Mooney
Tell us about yourself – where you are from, how you got started writing, what you do when you are not writing (or anything you want our readers to know)
I am a full time Kindergarten teacher who writes sensuous romances at night (and during her summers off). My home is a small town in south Texas where I live with my husband of 25+ years, and we have two sons.
I started writing when I was in elementary school, graduated to fanfiction in ‘89, and didn’t start to branch out into my own worlds until ‘96. After my hubby’s successful heart transplant, he encouraged me to start submitting my books to publishers.
Gee, when I’m not writing? LOL! I like to travel and visit friends and family. If I’m home, 99% of the time my butt’s parked in front of the computer.
What inspired you to write your first book?
Umm, truthfully, I was writing fanfiction but I was tired of having to restrict myself to someone else’s world. I wanted to create my own characters, give them my settings and personalities and problems. Writing fanfiction gave me a great start in how to keep focused, how to be creative, and how to think outside the box.
How many books have you written?
To date I’ve written 19 books and 7 short stories. Some are already published, some are contracted, and the rest are in submission.
The majority are sci-fi or fantasy (or a mixture of both) romances, one short is a contemporary, and some are erotic which I write under a pen name.
How do you decide on their topic?
Oh, geez, a hard one! LOL! I have NO idea how I come up with them. But I do know that I can take a photo, or a title, or a simple phrase and come up with a book if I want.
What works best to keep you focused and on track?
My iPod. I make a little “soundtrack album” of each book I’m currently working on, and I listen to it to keep me in the right mood, frame of mind, and focused.
Do you write to make money or for the love of writing?
For years it’s been the love of writing. The money is a perk.
What are some traditional methods of marketing you have used to gain visibility for you and your book(s)?
My personal website (lindamooney.com). Email loops. Book trailers of my own creation that I upload on YouTube (as LindaM54), MySpace (myspace.com/lindamooney), and My Book Place. “Free” sites like MySpace and Book Place. The Romance Galleria. Amazon.com.
What are some unique methods?
The newest wave is Book Trailers. These are a wonderful way to create interest in a book! I believe that in that short 1-2 min. bite you can catch a prospective reader’s eye that you may not have had otherwise.
Do you sell through a website?
Yes. Through my publishers’ websites, and through my own (lindamooney.com) where I offer autographed copies of my paperbacks.
Do you plan on writing additional books?
That’s a given. LOL! I love what I’m doing! Hopefully in 3 years I can retire from teaching (I already have in 30 years) and do this full time.
Thank you again for interviewing me! I am honored!
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