Thursday, March 29, 2018

Signup for Free Romance Promo


Attention Romance Authors!

Don't miss out on your chance to get involved with this awesome free promo opportunity. Fantasy Book Giveaways is hosting a bit sale and giveaway. When a big group of writers get together to promote an event, we have a huge social reach. All you have to do is shout out about it and make certain your romances are free to read on Kindle Unlimited.

Find a new book boyfriend and have a spring fling!

You can sign up HERE.

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Word Witch Wednesday - three marketing myths


It's one of our responsibilities as writers to research things. Not just stuff we'll need for our stories, but marketing, websites, covers, etc. There are a wide range of things we need to keep on top of to remain marketable. And it can be exhausting.

Many articles tell us the things we must do. But as I've cruised around the internet, I am reminded there is nothing we must do. There are things we should do, but every writer's journey is different. What works for one person might not work for others. We each must try out various strategies to see what works for ourselves. It's frustrating there's no magical formula, but if you're determined, you'll find a way.

Here are three marketing myths I've discovered in my research adventures:

1. "Create an author tagline." I've heard again and again this is essential in branding yourself. It does help in letting readers know your genre, but what if you write in more than one genre? It doesn't work for you. Many of the bestsellers' sites I've visited do not have author taglines. The majority of them have "New York Times Bestseller" to accompany their name on site banners. It says nothing about their genres. They use other aspects of their sites to let readers know what they write, and you can too.

2. "The newsletter is the new, big thing. Every writer must have one." Nope. Not essential if you have another way you're connecting with readers. Newsletters are bigger with some genres than others. Romance readers love them. Horror readers, not so much. Most bestsellers have newsletters, but they maybe send them out twice a year. I've signed up for ones that I have never received an email from.

3. "If the story is fantastic, it will sell your books." There are so many amazing stories that get buried under the millions of other books out there. What helps is to have a professional cover. It tells the reader what kind of genre it is at a glance and what to anticipate in the story. While I've seen authors that sell well with simple covers consisting only of text and maybe a symbol or an object, they usually already have an audience. A gorgeous cover can draw readers to you even if they don't know your name.

Don't exhaust yourself trying to figure out your marketing formula. Trust me. I know from experience how maddening it can be. Do what you're comfortable with. Do what you enjoy. Because if you lose your joy, you might lose you drive to write. Marketing has chased many aspiring writers away. Don't let it crush you.

What marketing myths have you discovered?

Saturday, March 17, 2018

Happy St. Patrick's Day!


May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
None of us may see a leprechaun or find his pot of gold, but I hope to give you something just as good. Free books!
For five days only, you can get the first three books of my thrilling urban fantasy series, TOTEM for free!

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Blue Sludge Blues & Other Abominations Release!



Blue Sludge Blues & Other Abominations
by Shannon Lawrence

Release Date: March 15, 2018
Horror short story collection


A collection of frights, from the psychological to the monstrous. These tales are a reminder of how much we have to fear: A creature lurking in the blue, sludgy depths of a rest area toilet; a friendly neighbor with a dark secret hidden in his basement; a woman with nothing more to lose hellbent on vengeance; a hike gone terribly wrong for three friends; a man cursed to clean up the bodies left behind by an inhuman force. These and other stories prowl the pages of this short story collection.

Excerpt


From Shifting Sands:

"When the next day went much the same--sand slid out of his phone receiver, his laptop--he left wok early, citing an appointment. But when he opened his car door to leave, his seat was full of sand, two words etched into it: NO ESCAPE."


Buy the Book


Also available from Apple and other countries through Amazon


About the Author


A fan of all things fantastical and frightening, Shannon Lawrence writes mostly fantasy and horror. Her stories can be found in magazines and anthologies, including Space and Time Magazine, Dark Moon Digest, and Ember: A Journal of Luminous Things. When she's not writing, she's hiking the wilds of Colorado and photographing her magnificent surroundings, where, coincidentally, there's always a place to hide a body or birth a monster.


Social Media Links



Wednesday, March 7, 2018

#IWSG for March 2018

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is the brilliant idea of Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the group is to share doubts and insecurities and to encourage one another. Please visit the other participants and share your support. A kind word goes a long way.

This month's awesome co-hosts are: Mary Aalgaard, Bish Denham, Jennifer Hawes, Diane Burton, and Gwen Gardner!

This month's optional IWSG question: How do you celebrate when you achieve a writing goal / finish writing a story?

For the longest time, every book I've finished, I've celebrated by making cookies. When I get near the end of a book, I'll buy the dough and let it sit in the fridge. It's great motivation to keep me chugging through to the end.

If I'm having a tough writing day, I will motivate myself with a chocolate or two. 500 words and then I get that candy! Yes, I'm easily trained.

I think celebrating reaching your goals is so important. It doesn't matter how you do it. Writing is hard work, and sometimes there's no one else around that knows how tough it is or to cheer you. This is why we must celebrate ourselves. Bonus: when you're feeling happy, you get all those happy chemicals released in your brain and you feel even more inspired!

My insecurities: My current WIP keeps getting bigger and bigger. While this is thrilling in a way, I do wonder if it will be too big and thus lose all its power with that size. Am I putting too much time into things that won't matter at the end? But it all goes together... somehow. I think! Hopefully when I finish it and send it along to my CPs, they'll let me know if it is too long.

IWSG newsletter news: Have you subscribed to the IWSG newsletter yet? We have helpful articles and links, and a featured industry guest each month. For March, we have Janet Hise who is a writer that helps other writers achieve their goals.

If you're an IWSG member and you have some news you'd like to share with the group, drop me an email at christinerains.writer@gmail.com and I'll put it in the newsletter.

Friday, March 2, 2018

Wings of Flesh and Bone Cover Reveal


Wings of Flesh and Bones
Cathrina Constantine
Publication date: April 13th 2018
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult
An Angel. A Witch. A Demon. And A Choice.
Creatures from outer realms suck, as any gatekeeper worth their salt will tell you. Welcome to Rogan’s life, an orphaned seventeen-year-old who lives and trains with other misfits under her uncle’s roof, keeping Earth safe from non-human realm jumpers. Rogan’s biggest issue concerns her uncle’s short leash with her freedom—that is of course, until she’s taken by a notorious witch, and her life begins to unravel. Soon, the supernatural beauty discovers there’s a reason her uncle kept such a tight lock on her whereabouts, and that she has more than angel blood running through her veins.
Eighteen-year-old Max is an angel, and Rogan’s mentor and guardian. He’s well aware of her tenacious inability to obey orders, though he also knows she’s a fierce fighter. When he’s involved in a scheme that ultimately gets Rogan kidnapped, he must battle his way back to her in an attempt to save her from the darkness threatening to possess her.


Author Bio:
Cathrina Constantine is the Best Selling author of Don't Forget To Breathe. Her book won Readers' Favorite International Book Award for 2015. New Apple Medalist for 2016. Literary Classics Gold Award. Literary Classics Seal of Approval. Her Paranormal Fantasy, Wickedly They Come has been awarded the 5 Star Seal from Reader's Favorite. Tallas from her dystopian series received Literary Classics Silver Award and Literary Classics Seal of Approval. 
Cathrina resides in Western New York. I am blessed with a loving family and forever friends. My world revolves around them.
I grew up in the small village of Lancaster, NY, where I married my sweetheart. I'm devoted to raising 5 cherished children, and now my grandchildren. 
I love to immerse myself in great books of every kind of genre, which helps me to write purely for entertainment, and hopefully to inspire readers. When not stationed at my computer you can find me in the woods taking long walks with my dog.

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