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Red Woman Blogging

Rambling about romance and life, reminiscing on books and travel, ranting over those evil little devils called commas, and revealing an occasional truth. Or two.

Promoting your heart out

November 11, 2009 – 9:30 am

 

So you spent a year buried in the writing cave. You poured your heart into the story. You delivered it on time.

And you feel damned proud that you finished that baby and that it’s actually quite good!

But now, the date approaches.

Your baby is coming out into the world.

And  you realize that, well, a lot of other babies are coming out, too. How are you going to make yours stand out? How will you make certain people stop and take notice? You didn’t spend all this time and effort to have your story sitting on a shelf, you want someone to take it home with them!

But how?

Blogging helps, true, and so does Twitter, and Facebook, and My Space. But everyone seems to use these same tools to promote nowadays, too.

In this tight market, what is an author to do to help the publisher sell some books?

I have friends who believe the book should sell itself. I have other friends who’ve  hired a professional publicist to help create ‘buzz’ around their books.

Me? Here’s what I’ve done so far – and I of course welcome any suggestions!

1) RT magazine ad (though I’m thinking group ads may give you more bang for your buck)

2) Scheduled blog interviews

3) Sent THE SATIN SASH out to reviewers

4) Planning a new contest for after the book launch

5) Booked several ad spaces on online sites like TRS, NightOwl romance, RT bookreviews.

I feel like I’m missing a magic ingredient and am not sure which one. More pepper? More chili? More salt? Butter, perhaps? Anyone?

Maybe I just need to sit back, relax, and just write the next danged story. 

:)

By Red •• Posted in Publishing & Promoting •• Comments (2)

Carina Press – Harlequin’s new epub

November 10, 2009 – 8:43 am

So have you heard ?

Harlequin Enterprises has joined the e bandwagon and has opened a new epub.

Carina Press, led by a group of incredible ladies which include Angela James – Samhain’s former Executive Editor - is looking for great stories in all kinds of genres. They plan to open to the public in Spring 2010 and are already lining up their offerings.

:)

By Red •• Posted in Writing Life •• Comments (0)

Joy in the mail today . . .

November 6, 2009 – 7:56 pm

Today I got a package.

I don’t always get packages, and when I do, I expect them. But lately I’ve been buried in the writing cave, fretting about upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the last thing I expected was to receive a package from one of my publishers. 

Said package contained a note from Tracy my editor saying, ‘Congratulations!’

And there, THERE, you guys, was this:

satinsash

Tangible, wonderful evidence of all I’ve done the past year.

God, it feels AMAZING to hold it!

And to think in three weeks it will be out in bookstores. Gawd.

I hope someone buys it, other than my mother.

By Red •• Posted in Writing Life •• Comments (13)

Dark heroes and their tortured pasts…

November 1, 2009 – 11:27 am

Halloween got me thinking about the dark stuff. Dark souls. Dark pasts. Dark men.

So what is it about a dark hero and his tortured past that does me in?

I can name my very favorite in a nanosecond: The Phantom of the Opera. Oh, my goodness, but how could Christine ever resist that man’s seduction?

Me?

Trade the PHANTOM, THE Phantom,  THE PHANTOM, for an insipid, whiny little Raoul? Never!

gerryphantom

What about you guys – do you have any favorite dark heroes from books, movies, fairytales?

By Red •• Posted in Writing Life •• Comments (2)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

October 31, 2009 – 5:31 pm

 

May something dark, dangerous, and delicious find you . . .

Or may you find IT!

 edward

By Red •• Posted in Writing Life •• Comments (0)

MEN OF DANGER – cover

October 29, 2009 – 4:23 pm

I just got the cover for MEN OF DANGER and I am in danger of losing my breath, my speech, and my heart all in one fell swoop!

 

MEN OF DANGER

 

By Red •• Posted in Writing Life •• Comments (4)

CONTEST WINNERS

October 18, 2009 – 2:13 am

We have new names for you. The three lucky participants listed below will each receive a signed copy of my Red Hot Summer anthology. So without further ado . . .

Congratulations to Kimmy Lane, Jane Cheung, and Donna Ross!

Please contact me with your details so I can promptly ship your prize. And thanks to everyone for participating. Stay tuned for more contests and prizes.

Q: In The Satin Sash, what exactly is being negotiated between Toni and her lover Grey?

The three winners of the previous contest knew that in The Satin Sash, Grey and Toni are negotiating having a threesome with Heath! For answering correctly our winners each win a signed copy of Red Hot Summer.

From the excerpt:
When she spoke, her voice hummed with arousal. “You’ve done this before, haven’t you? Threesomes?”

Grey seemed ready to smile. “I have.”

By Red •• Posted in Writing Life •• Comments (1)

Edits for The Feather

October 17, 2009 – 6:33 pm

So I got my copy edits and have three days left before I must turn them in. The best way to deal with edits, I now realize, is with chocolates. Lots of chocolates. But even then, dang it, edits are painful!

There’s this strange feeling you get when you read the book again after a few months. It’s exciting, to read that familiar sentence, and yet it’s also terribly tempting. Who’s to keep me from tearing it all apart and writing it all over again?

Hubby must tie my hands, and not to pleasure me. :)

By Red •• Posted in Writing Life •• Comments (1)

CRITIQUE PARTNERS

October 8, 2009 – 1:07 pm

I think I owe my life to my critique partners!

See, I’m a bit of a case when it comes to my books. It’s a love and hate thing between us. What I love I end up hating, and once I hate it I fear I can never love it again. Which is false!

You see, there are some amazing people out there, owners of fresh eyes, keen minds, and observation skills, who are so close to God they will actually cheer you on even while you’re writing trash! They will tell you awesome things about your muse – who you want to slap because she’s handing you drivel - but most of all, these amazing friends will hold your hand until the storms pass.

And they do pass, all storms pass.

And once they’re gone your eyes become sharp again, your heart is mellow to your words (again), and you can finally get that project back on track! Whew.

Wylie , Karen, Sierra, Sheryl, Robin, R.G, Maya R, Lilli, Lynn Raye . . .

I’m convinced you guys are angels!

What about you? Who are the angels looking out for you?

By Red •• Posted in Writing Life •• Comments (0)

Calling all writers

October 7, 2009 – 9:32 pm

The new 2009 Harlequin Presents competition is underway!

This is a great opportunity to get your work in front of editors. I know one of the winners of this contest, a good friend of mine and a great writer, Lynn Raye Harris, is now busily writing her fourth book with more contracted. So what are you waiting for? Dust off those old manuscripts or get typing!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT IT!

By Red •• Posted in Writing Life •• Comments (0)