When I signed my first book contract with Melange Books, I was on cloud nine. I literally did a happy dance in my kitchen. Somehow, I thought, my book would magically fly off the virtual shelves of Melange, Amazon, B&N, and all the other online venues and into the hands of willing readers.

Cue crickets.

Gradually, I learned that a small-press, unagented author must do this thing called “promotion”. Gulp.

What a revelation for a complete introvert like me! I suddenly had the utmost desire to bury my head in the backyard and talk to no one but the silent earthworms and grubs.

Over the course of time, I visited hundreds of blogs, book review sites, burned up Facebook and even Tweeted, though I still am not fond of the Twitter experience. Yet, I began to feel like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, tossing on a fake wig and leaning into car windows: “Hey baby, you wanna buy a book?”

Mostly, I think this stems from my afore-mentioned introvertism. But, when I keep promoting over and over in the same circles of social networks and blogs, I just feel—I hate to say it—cheap. The virtual streets are filled with others like me. I’m just one little hooker in a huge city, looking to get noticed.

What gets me off the streets and into some semblance of an honest woman again is branching out beyond those saturated circles and being creative in my promotional activities.

Some of the things I’ve tried or will try soon:

• Speaking at a rotary club meeting.
• Visiting local bookstores to see if they will sell a few copies/host some signings.
• Advertising any events or releases in the local papers, online or print.
• Radio spots to advertise an event.
• An interactive reading using a scene from my book, using audience members as the “cast”.
• Scavenger hunts (winner gets a book) when I join in a live chat.
• Developing a good tagline to use on my Facebook page and e-mail signature.
• Applying to as many local book fairs as possible.
• Joining a local RWA group.
• An encouraging attitude—hosting other writers on my blog, shouting out about them via the social networks, cheering them on, commenting on their posts, etc.

Please note that I have nothing against Tweeting, Facebooking, asking for likes on Amazon, etc. It’s simply that repeating these things over and over and over in an environment already saturated with eager authors is not really furthering my career. Shouting out to the same circles of people about my books does not increase sales. Actively branching out in person and in creative ways online is the best way I’ve seen to draw in new fans.

It’s still slow, and it’s still painful at times due to my shyness, but it IS forcing me to learn the business end of things. And it’s teaching me patience, a virtue I’ve lacked my entire life.

So, if you’re a struggling author, wipe off the lipstick, take off that horrid wig and the six-inch stilettos, and take your efforts off the crowded streets. I bet you’ll be glad you did.

****

Mysti Parker (pseudonym) is a full time wife, mother of three, and a writer. Her first novel, A Ranger’s Tale was published in January, 2011 by Melange Books, and the second in the fantasy romance series, Serenya’s Song, was published in April 2012. She’s a regular book reviewer for SQ Magazine, a web-based speculative fiction publication, and she’s the proud writer of Unwritten, a blog voted #3 for eCollegeFinder’s Top Writing Blogs award. She resides in Buckner, KY (USA) with her husband and three children.

Unwritten: www.mystiparker.blogspot.com

Twitter: @MystiParker

Goodreads Author Page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4625596.Mysti_Parker

Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mysti-Parker/103786449704221

Please note that I have nothing against Tweeting, Facebooking, asking for likes on Amazon, etc. It’s simply that repeating these things over and over and over in an environment already saturated with eager authors is not really furthering my career. Shouting out to the same circles of people about my books does not increase sales. Actively branching out in person and in creative ways online is the best way I’ve seen to draw in new fans.
It’s still slow, and it’s still painful at times due to my shyness, but it IS forcing me to learn the business end of things. And it’s teaching me patience, a virtue I’ve lacked my entire life.
So, if you’re a struggling author, wipe off the lipstick, take off that horrid wig and the six-inch stilettos, and take your efforts off the crowded streets. I bet you’ll be glad you did.
****
Mysti Parker (pseudonym) is a full time wife, mother of three, and a writer. Her first novel, A Ranger’s Tale was published in January, 2011 by Melange Books, and the second in the fantasy romance series, Serenya’s Song, was published in April 2012. She’s a regular book reviewer for SQ Magazine, a web-based speculative fiction publication, and she’s the proud writer of Unwritten, a blog voted #3 for eCollegeFinder’s Top Writing Blogs award. She resides in Buckner, KY (USA) with her husband and three children.
Unwritten: www.mystiparker.blogspot.com
Twitter: @MystiParker
Goodreads Author Page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4625596.Mysti_Parker
Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mysti-Parker/103786449704221

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A review by Patsy Cashmere
Goodreads 5 Stars

Protecting Rose embraces all the reasons we read romance novels. The Characters are believable with simmering sexual tension along with a powerful storyline that keeps us reading from chapter to chapter as the story unfolds. High action with scintillating twists and turns right up to the end.

Jason McKinney Virtual Tour Dates

The author will be featured on the following blog sites:

May 14 – The Weird, The Wild, & The Wicked Blog (Siobhan Muir): 5-questions interview + Giveaway http://siobhanmuir.blogspot.com/ 

May 16 – Swedish Zombie: Guest Post (Guest post + Review) http://www.swedishzombie.com/   

May 18 – Tony-Paul de Vissage (Tony-Paul de Vissage): Guest Post + Review + Giveaway  http://www.tony-paul.com/

May 20 – Cabin Goddess Blog (Kriss Morton-Weekley): Interview + Review http://cabingoddess.com/tag/kriss-morton-weekley/

May 24 – Pagan Spirits Blog (Erin O’Riordan): Interview + Giveaway http://www.erinoriordan.blogspot.com/

May 25 – Southern Duchess Blog (Dawn Davis): Interview + Review + Giveaway  http://southernduchess.blogspot.com/ 

May 27 – Cabin Goddess Blog (Kriss Morton-Weekley): Guest Post + Giveaway  http://cabingoddess.com/tag/kriss-morton-weekley/

Review only: Thoughts & Musings Blog (Rita Balbo) http://rita.crowdedminds.com/ 

When I started writing seriously I was very unprofessional. I didn’t understand the term ‘genre’ as it applied to books, let alone ‘sub-genre’. All I knew was that I wanted to write ‘a love story’ and submit it to Mills & Boon (the Harlequin was yet to be added). Given my storyline, about an unwanted and unplanned pregnancy, I did have some misgivings, but once I’d started I was taken over by the process. I didn’t plot or plan, I simply wrote, and the story unfolded before me. All I needed to do was commit it, longhand, to the foolscap notepads I was using.
Unsurprisingly, M & B rejected my book, but I was so in love with my own creation, and so convinced that others would love it too, I was undeterred. The most professional thing I did was go down to my local bookstore, look at the commercial fiction written by women, and note down who published what. I submitted to 6 other publishers before the 8th, a completely new publisher called, Love Stories, took me on. Their vision was to provide intelligent, off-beat and unconventional romantic fiction for women. My story – Just Before Dawn – fitted this remit, as did my next – Desires & Dreams.
Love Stories was unable to get the promotion and distribution which would ensure success for itself and its writers. It was only after it folded, when I tried to find another publisher, that I gradually discovered the reason why. It was hard to explain what my books were about. They were love stories, but they weren’t ‘Romances’ as understood by the general public. And it seemed, and still does, that as soon as a book needs more than a two word description, it falls into the increasingly despised category – midlist. So, I floundered, continuing to write what I had always written but failing to find a publisher (or even an agent) willing to take a risk on me.
This is why, in the spring of 2011, I decided to self-publish my book, TORN, as an e-book. But I soon realised that the problem had followed me to electronic publishing. The need to find a pre-existing and well understood sub-genre, under which label to slot my books, still exists. Maybe even more so. Buyers look for what they know and /or recognise. Unless you are already a name and have a dedicated following, or you can honestly label your book Fantasy, Chick-Lit, Rom Com, Erotica, Sci-Fi or whatever, it is very hard to find a market.
Few writers, unless they are very foolish or very lucky, do it for the money. You write because … that’s what you do, and validation for the blood, sweat and tears expended during the creative process only comes when people buy your book (and hopefully enjoy it). I do go in for the lottery and yes, of course, I’d love to win a big prize. But if that happened, my first thought would be: think of the publicity – “Lottery winner writes book!”
I wish I could suggest a solution to this problem. It seems insurmountable. Unless, by some fluke, my books are found, bought and read by enough people to push them up the rankings and create a snowball effect. Perhaps I’ll then become my own sub-genre – ‘Romance Gilli-style’!
On May 1, I published my second e-book, LIFE CLASS http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007XWFURQ
Along with the publication of LIFE CLASS, I am running a special offer price cut, for another 8 days, on my first book TORN: http://www.amazon.co.uk/TORN-ebook/dp/B004UVR81Y

http://www.gilliallan.blogspot.com/

Short Biography

Gilli Allan started to write in childhood – a hobby pursued throughout her teenage. Writing was only abandoned when she left home and real life supplanted the fiction. Gilli did not go to Oxford or Cambridge, but instead chose Croydon College of Art. She did not work on any of the broadsheets or in television, but has done a variety of jobs – shop assistant, beauty consultant, bar-maid and picking up American tourists in London in order to sell them real estate in Florida. She worked longest and most happily as a commercial artist. Gilli started writing again when her son started playgroup. She has been a school governor, a contributor to local newspapers, and a driving force behind the establishment of a community shop in her village. Still a keen artist, Gilli regularly attends a life-class near her home in Gloucestershire, where she lives with her husband, Geoff, and son, Tom.

LIFE CLASS
A story about art, life, love and learning lessons

The class meets once a week to draw the human figure. For four of its members, life hasn’t lived up to expectations. All have failed to achieve what they thought they wanted in life. They gradually come to realise that it’s not just the naked model they need to study and understand. Their stories are very different, but they all have secrets they hide from the world and from themselves. By uncovering and coming to terms with the past, maybe they can move on to a different and unimagined future.

Dory says she works in the sex trade, the clean-up end. She deals with the damage sex can cause. Her job has given her a jaundiced view of men, an attitude confirmed by the disintegration of her own relationship. The time seems right to pursue what she really wants in life, if she can work out what that is. Love doesn’t figure in her view of the future – she’s always been a clear eyed realist – yet she finds herself chasing a dream.

Stefan is a single-minded loner, whose sole and overriding ambition is to make a living from his sculpture. So how the hell did he find himself facing a class of adults who want their old teacher back? Although love is an emotion he long ago closed off – it only leads to regret and shame – it creeps up on him from more than one direction. Is it time to admit that letting others into his life is not defeat?

Fran – Dory’s older sister – is a wife and a stay-at-home mother without enough to keep her occupied. On a collision course with her mid-life crisis, Fran craves the romance and excitement of her youth. An on-line flirtation with an old boyfriend becomes scarily obsessive, putting everything she really loves at risk.

Dominic – has lived his life knowing all about sex but nothing about love. If he can only find his mother perhaps he can make sense of his past. But perhaps it is a doomed quest and it’s time to look to the future? By accepting the help and love that’s on offer here and now, he has a chance to transform his life.

TORN
You can escape your past but can you ever escape yourself?
TORN is a contemporary story, which faces up to the complexities, messiness and absurdities in modern relationships. Life is not a fairy tale; it can be confusing and difficult. Sex is not always awesome; it can be awkward and embarrassing, and it has consequences. You don’t always fall for Mr Right, even if he falls for you. And realising you’re in love is not always good news. It can make the future look daunting……
Jess has made a series of bad choices. Job, relationships and life-style have all let her down. But by escaping the turmoil of her London life, she is putting her young child first. This time she wants to get it right, to devote herself to being a mother. In the country she will find peace, simplicity and the good life, won’t she?

But a beautiful environment does not guarantee a tranquil life. There are stresses and strains here too – the landscape she looks out on is under threat, new friends have hidden agendas, two very different men pull her in opposing directions – and in the face of temptation old habits die hard. Despite her resolution to avoid entanglements, she is torn between the suitable man and the unsuitable boy.

http://famousfiveplus.blogspot.com/

http://britishromancefiction.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1182311866

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1027644.Gilli_Allan

twitter: @gilliallan

www.marymannersromance.com Mattie’s Meltaways, Book 4 in the Sweet Treats Bakery Series
Lone Creek Ranch Series, White Rose Publishing
Buried Treasures, 2011 CAPA Award Nominee
Tender Mercies, finalist, 2011 Inspirational Readers Choice Award

We’ve all read the ‘romance’ novels where the domineering alpha hero forces himself on to the weak/innocent/naïve heroine and practically rapes her, but she still falls in love with him. Personally, I’d kick him where it hurts. The extreme Alpha man is often portrayed as Mr. Machismo, an abrasive, ruthless, overbearing jerk. Maybe it’s what some women fantasize about, but it leaves me cold. An ‘Alpha-plus’ man like this is more likely to be the villain in my story, not the hero.

With all the emphasis on Alpha men, the Beta man has got a bad rap. I’ve seen him described as “an unremarkable, careful man who avoids confrontation, and who lacks the physical presence, charisma, and confidence of the alpha man.” He can come over as a boring Mr Nice Guy. Carried to its extreme, i.e. the ‘Beta-minus’ level, he is an unremarkable, passive, non-confrontational wimp.

Hardly the kind of hero for a romantic novel, you might think. But think again!

How about a combination of both Alpha and Beta? The man who combines the best qualities of both and loses the worst? He’s what I like to call the Alpha-minus, Beta-plus hero.

Alpha-plus loses his macho arrogance and egomaniacal behaviour to become Alpha-minus. He retains his strength, charisma and a self-confidence which is respected, not intimidating. He seeks a mate who is his equal, not one he can dominate.

At the same time, the Beta-minus loses his reticence and passiveness and climbs up the scale to Beta-plus. But he retains his sensitivity, his loyalty, and his compassion.

To my mind, an Alpha-Beta man represents a more rounded idea of what masculinity is really all about. He rejects the all-conquering, competitive model of the Alpha because he is secure in his own strengths. He isn’t threatened by intelligent and/or powerful women because he doesn’t have to be in control of every situation to maintain his sense of self. He isn’t abrasive, ruthless, or overbearing. Instead, he exudes a quiet self-assurance that has its own charismatic appeal. His so-called ‘introverted character’ may in fact indicate a thoughtful and capable man. He doesn’t see compassion or sensitivity as weaknesses, and he has the character traits which, in my opinion, women really admire – intelligence, honesty, and faithfulness.

With the Alpha minus/Beta plus man, we get the best of both worlds – strength combined with sensitivity. That’s my kind of hero!

Bio:
Paula Martin had some early publishing success with short stories and four contemporary romance novels, but then had a break from writing while she brought up a young family and also pursued her career as a history teacher for twenty-five years. She has recently returned to writing fiction, after retiring from teaching. and has had two novels published, ‘His Leading Lady’ in June 2011, and ‘Fragrance of Violets’ in February 2012. Two more novels are currently awaiting release, ‘Changing the Future’ in May 2012 and ‘Her Only Option’ in November 2012, and she is working on a fifth.
She lives near Manchester in North-West England, and has two daughters and two grandsons. Apart from writing, she enjoys visiting new places and has travelled extensively in Britain, mainland Europe, the Middle East, America and Canada. Her favourite places are the English Lake District and Ireland. She’s also interested in musical theatre and tracing her family history.
Website: http://paulamartinromances@webs.com

Blog: http://paulamartinpotpourri.blogspot.com

Group Blog (with 3 other writers): http://heroineswithhearts.blogspot.com

Also on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/paulamartinromances

and Twitter @PaulaRomances

Romance Novels:

His Leading Lady
Jess Harper decides to pose as her twin sister Lora, who has disappeared. Attraction sparks between her and theatre director Kyle Drummond, but is he treating her as a substitute for Lora – in real life as well as in the show?
“Paula has brilliantly written a page turner that dives the reader head first into romance, intrigue and mystery, set in England’s Theatrical West End.”

Fragrance of Violets:
‘Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.’ (Mark Twain)
Abbey Seton has to find a way to forgive Jack Tremayne for the past, but he’s hiding a new secret which threatens the fragile resumption of their relationship. Can she forgive him a second time?
“If you’re looking for a story which will give you the warm fuzzies then this is definitely for you. It’ll stay on your bookshelf, it’s a keeper.”

Both these are available from Amazon, Bookstrand, and also Whiskey Creek Press http://whiskeycreekpress.com/authors/Paula_Martin.shtml

Changing the Future
Lisa Marshall and Paul Hamilton can’t change the past, but will it take a volcanic eruption to help them change the future?
Available from Rebecca J. Vickery Publishing on May 15th (fingers crossed!) http://rebeccajvickery.com/
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It’s me again. I seem to be getting a bit carried away.
I’m blogging on Helen Hollick’s site ‘Of History and Kings’, talking about researching for my novel Spanish Civil War novel, ‘Domingo’s Angel’.

http://ofhistoryandkings.blogspot.co.uk/

I’d love you to leave a comment. Thank you so much
Love
Jenny Twist
xxxx

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Or email me on casahoya@gmail.com