Tuesday, July 30, 2013

ARC August


ARC August is hosted by Octavia at Read. Sleep. Repeat. 

If you're anything like me, you likely have a towering pile of review books that only ever seems to get bigger instead of smaller. I feel like I'm forever working away at my pile, but never making a dent in it. I want to change that, so when I saw that Octavia was hosting ARC August, I knew I had to join!

These are just some of the ARCs I need to get read in the next month or so. I'm not sure if I'll get to them all, and I might add more in the next couple weeks, but these are the ones that need to be read sooner than later.


The Uprising by Lisa M Stasse {GoodReads}
Fire With Fire by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian {GoodReads}
Take Me Now by Faith Sullivan {GoodReads}
To Be Perfectly Honest by Sonya Sones {GoodReads}
Georgetown Academy Season One by Alyssa Embree Schwartz and Jessica Koosed Etting {GoodReads}
Not Pretty Enough by Jaimie Admans {GoodReads}
Leap of Faith by Jamie Blair {GoodReads}
The Angel Stone by Juliet Dark {GoodReads}
The Truth About You and Me by Amanda Grace {GoodReads}


If you're participating in ARC August, be sure to leave a link to your sign-up post so I can come cheer you on! And if you want to cheer me on...well...*stares at towering pile of books*...I could definitely use the encouragement! ;-)

Monday, July 29, 2013

WAITING FOR THE STORM Blog Tour Kick-Off + Giveaway

The WAITING FOR THE STORM blog tour starts today! I actually kind of want to hyperventilate just typing that. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. 

I did a blog tour for my debut novel, BLUE SKY DAYS, when it came out, but I haven't done one since. I organized that one myself and it lasted for exactly one month, so I know how time-consuming it is to put these things together, which is why I decided to hire the amazing Giselle from Xpresso Book Tours to organize this tour for me. We've been blog buddies pretty much since the beginning (funnily enough she was actually part of the BLUE SKY DAYS tour a year and a half ago), and she was so professional and helpful. If you're considering doing a tour or even a cover reveal, blitz, etc., I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her. Thanks for all your hard work, Giselle!

If you want to follow along with the tour (I'd love you forever), you can check out the line-up here. Each blog has the option to host a giveaway for the book, so there will be plenty of chances to win a copy. For those of you who want to buy a copy (again, I'd love you forever...seriously), I've reduced the price of the ebook to just 99 cents for the duration of the tour. 


Smashwords (don't forget to use coupon code BH53J to take advantage of the sale price)

To celebrate the book going on tour and to thank people for all their support, I'm giving away a book of the winner's choice from The Book Depository up to $12 USD.

*Open internationally
*Must be 16+ to enter or have parental permission
*Winner will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Being an author is my lifelong dream and it's because of wonderful readers and bloggers that I'm getting to live my dream. Thank you for making it so special and making it all worth it. I hope to have information about my next book for you soon, so be sure to keep an eye on the blog!

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Stacking the Shelves + What's Happening July 27th

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews
 
Hey guys! I hope you’ve all had a fantastic week. Can you believe July is almost over? Is it just me or did it zoom by? 

I haven’t done a Stacking the Shelves in about three weeks, so I have ton of books to show you…so many, in fact, that I’m saving a bunch for next week so this post doesn’t go on forever! These are the freebies, cheapies, review books, and the book I won, and next week I’ll show you the mountain of books I got from the bookstore at my library.

FREEBIES

 
Significance by Shelly Crane {GoodReads}
Barbie Girl by Heidi Acosta {GoodReads}
Dracian Legacy by Priya Kanaparti {GoodReads}
Shattered Promises by Jessica Sorensen {GoodReads}
Do or Di by Eileen Cook {GoodReads}



BOUGHT
 
*I got every single one of these ebooks on sale for $2.99 or less - woohoo! My poor credit card got a real workout in the last few weeks…one-clicking is just WAY too easy, but so much fun!*
Finding June by Shannen Crane Camp {GoodReads}
Pwned by Shannen Crane Camp {GoodReads}
Dare You To by Katie McGarry {GoodReads}
Shine Not Burn by Ella Casey {GoodReads}
Unbreak My Heart by Melissa Walker {GoodReads}
Snapshots by Patricia Lynne {GoodReads}
Addicted to You by Krista and Becca Ritchie {GoodReads}
Hidden Wings by Cameo Renae {GoodReads}
The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls by Claire Legrand {GoodReads}
Playing for Keeps by RL Mathewson {GoodReads}
Tempting the Best Man by J Lynn {GoodReads}

FOR REVIEW:
 
Fire With Fire by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian {GoodReads}
Not Pretty Enough by Jaimie Admans {GoodReads}
Take Me Now by Faith Sullivan {GoodReads}

WON
 
Signed copy + signed bookmark of The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan {GoodReads} from Giselle at Book Nerd

*A big thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada, Jaimie Admans, Faith Sullivan, and Giselle*




  • I participated in the Blogger Book Fair this week and struck gold with three amazing authors. On Monday I did a Q&A with the awesome and super sweet Shannen Crane Camp; on Wednesday Cindy C Bennett stopped by and shared 10 really great marketing tips for authors; and on Thursday EM Tippets shared a bit about herself along with an excerpt (and giveaway!) from Love in Darkness. I visited their blogs as well - I did a Q&A with Shannen; shared my Top 7 Tips for New Writers on Cindy's blog; and did a Q&A plus shared an excerpt from Waiting for the Storm on Emily's blog

  • I reviewed The Boys of Summer by CJ Duggan and gave it 5 stars (my first 5-star review in awhile!). Then I participated in the blog tour for An Endless Summer and gave that one 4 stars. There’s still time to enter to win a signed copy or ebook!
  • I reviewed Right of Way by Lauren Barnholdt and gave it 3.5 stars

A few other things: The WAITING FOR THE STORM blog tour starts on Monday - eep! I'm so excited and also kinda nervous. There are 46 bloggers participating, which is amazing. I reduced the price of the book to 99 cents for the Blogger Book Fair and decided to leave it at the price through the blog tour. You can get it on Amazon, Amazon Canada, and Amazon UK for 99 cents, or if you don't have a Kindle, you can get the book on Smashwords in any format for 99 cents using the coupon code BH53J. 

And finally, I designed the cover for my friend Jessica Sankiewicz's debut novel If Only We and she's looking for people to be part of the reveal on August 5th. If you'd like to participate head on over to her blog and sign up!


How was your week? Did you get any new books? Have you read any good ones that you'd recommend? Tell me in the comments below or post a link to your Stacking the Shelves/Book Haul/In My Mailbox/Showcase Sunday, etc. Happy reading! <3


Friday, July 26, 2013

Jennifer Snyder's Top 10 Sizzling Paranormal Summer Reads + Giveaway




The Sizzling Summer Giveaway Event is a huge event featuring 50 authors, organized by YA Bound Book Tours. You can check out all the participating authors and blogs here.

Jennifer Snyder’s Top Ten Sizzling Paranormal Summer Reads: 

Summer is officially here. School is out. The nights are longer. It’s time to curl up with a tall glass of lemonade and a good book. Here’s my list of all-time favorite paranormal reads. 

1) Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause – best werewolf book I’ve read. Hands down. 

2) Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice – first book I ever read where I thought the movie was just as good. The entire Vampire Chronicles series is amazing as well. 

3) Grey Eyes by Brandon Alston & Quinteria Ramey – incredibly interesting story line involving witches and vampires. The entire trilogy was engrossing. 

4) Switched by Amanda Hocking – I’d never read a novel about trolls until this series. 

5) Beautiful Demons by Sarra Cannon – Really interesting concept of cheerleaders, demons, and witches. 

6) Devour by Shelly Crane – absolutely love the concept of a Devourer. 

7) Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins – just recently read this and could not put it down! I have to say, it has one of the most original novel concepts I’ve encountered in a long time. 

8) The Host by Stephanie Meyer – my favorite Meyer novel. This book actually made me cry at the end, first paranormal novel to ever do that. 

9) Dark Visions by L. J. Smith – an oldie, but I love Gabriel. 

10) Flight by Alyssa Rose Ivy – such an authentic New Orleans setting that it made me want to take a vacation there. 

Sometimes who we really are lies buried just beneath the surface… 
That’s my list, but don’t go yet…here’s TWO MORE sizzling paranormal summer reads you should check out:
After learning she’s inherited a house in the beachside town of Soul Harbor, Georgia, Addison Harmon and her best friend decided to take a much needed vacation before the pressures of life after high school suffocate them too heavily.  
But what Addison finds isn’t a chance to recoup from a bad break up and hang out with her best friend while she decides what she wants to do with her future. What she finds is Kace Sullivan—a sexy guy she can’t seem to get enough of—someone who with one touch reveals a seductive world full of magick and secrets Addison isn’t sure she’s ready to be a part of. 
(New Adult/Mature Young Adult: Contains sexual situations, mild language, and underage drinking.) 
Kindle and Nook 

A mysterious stranger she can’t stay away from.  A birthmark with a hidden meaning and one bite that changes seventeen-year-old Tessa Morganton’s destiny forever… 
Life for Tessa had been steady and calm—with the exception of her overly jealous boyfriend—until the moment Jace Fowler walked into her life. 
Jace—incredibly charming with boy band good looks—is someone whom Tessa can’t seem to stay away from… no matter how much she knows she should.  
After surviving a strange animal attack, Tessa learns just how mysterious and secretive Jace really is and that his secrets not only involve himself…but her as well, making Tessa question everything she’s ever believed regarding her life and those around her. (Young Adult: Contains mild language and underage drinking.) 
Kindle and Nook 


Jennifer Snyder lives in North Carolina were she spends most of her time writing new adult and young adult fiction, reading, and struggling to stay on top of housework. She is a tea lover with an obsession for Post-it notes and smooth writing pens. Jennifer lives with her husband and two children, who endure listening to songs that spur inspiration on repeat and tolerate her love for all paranormal, teenage-targeted TV shows. 
Find out more about novels by following here: 

1 - Kindle Fire HD with NA/Adult e-book prize pack (shown)


1 - Kindle Fire HD with YA e-book prize pack (shown)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What are some of your favourite paranormal reads for summer?

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Blogger Book Fair: Spotlight, Q&A + Giveaway with EM Tippets


Today I'm really pleased to have EM Tippets on the blog with an excerpt from Love in Darkness (the second book in the Shattered Castles series) along with a Q&A, and an awesome giveaway!

Alex had everything when he was with Madison. But the darkness within him wouldn't go away.

After two years apart, he returns to Pelican Bluffs and to the girl he never wanted to leave. Madison wants to give their love another chance, but Alex can't fight fate.

He is what he is.

Ruined. Crazy like his mother. And Madison deserves so much more. When his secrets spill out into their small town, Alex has a choice to make. Hide away in the darkness forever, or let love in.


Author Q&A


Tell us 3 fun facts about yourself.

1. I'm half Chinese; my father's family immigrated from Shanghai in the 1940s.


2. My father's a glider pilot, so when I was a kid I spent a lot of weekends hanging around the airport and flying planes.

3. I've got more names than you can shake a stick at. I was born Emily Mary Mah and my Chinese family gave me the name Shi Yue. Then when I married my husband I got the last name, Tippetts, so I can do a lot of different pen names and still have them be my real name.

What book are you currently reading, and in what format?


Hardwired by Walter Jon Williams, as an ebook. I'm going to serialize it for him so I'm reading to find the best places to break each episode.

Do you have a book that you read over and over?

The Bible and the Book of Mormon, but I assume you mean a novel. When I was a kid it was King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry. Nowadays I never find time to re-read a book, though!

Is there a book you know you’ll never read?

The rest of the Twilight series. It just isn't my kind of thing.

You’re deserted on an island. A genie appears and gives you six wishes. You can’t wish for more wishes, and you can’t wish to be home. You can only wish for three specific items and three people to have with you. What are your wishes?

A computer with magical internet access so I can keep writing. A study home to live in that won't require a whole lot of maintenance. A boat and fishing equipment.

The people are easy. My husband and two boys!

If you could time travel, where would you go first and why?

To the future, past when I can expect to live naturally, simply because there'd be no other way for me to find out about it.

What are you currently working on, and when can we expect to see it for sale?

The title is Break It Up and it's a new adult romance. Kyra Armijo (whom some readers will know from my Someone Else's Fairytale series) gets the chance to work on a documentary about the chart topping boy band, Triple Cross. As part of the job, she goes on tour with them in Europe where she strikes up a romance with one of the band members. Since she assumes it's all an act on his part, she doesn't bother to tell him about her racy past, which would destroy him if the tabloids found out. Things get awkward when she realizes he's being sincere, and even more awkward when one of the other band members tries to compete for her attention.


Excerpt from Love in Darkness
Available from:

About E.M. Tippetts

Emily Mah Tippetts writes romance as E.M. Tippetts and science fiction and fantasy as Emily Mah. She is a former attorney with degrees in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University and business law from UCLA. These days she lives in New Mexico - the place where she grew up - with her family.

She also designs book covers and formats paperbacks and ebooks for her company E.M. Tippetts Book Designs.



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much for being here today, Emily!

Be sure to check out my Blogger Book Fair giveaway for another chance to win one of Emily's books!

 

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Blogger Book Fair: Cindy C Bennett's Top 10 Marketing Tips for Authors


For today's Blogger Book Fair post, I have author Cindy C Bennett here sharing some fantastic marketing tips for authors. These days, whether you're traditionally or self-published, you have to be a marketing machine, and these tips are so helpful.


Top 10 Marketing Tips for Authors
by Cindy C Bennett


Marketing is one of the necessary evils of writing (the other being editing). Without marketing, your book is dead in the water, whether you self- or traditional-publish. It’s up to you, the author, to market your books. You need to become familiar to your potential readers because, let’s face it, we all read books that are from an author we know. Most of these marketing tips should be started before you ever publish a book, but if you’ve already published, it’s not too late to begin now. You’ll figure out what works best for you, but these are my personal top 10 tips for marketing. 

1.    Blogging: The importance of blogging can’t be emphasized enough. Why? Because if you want people to follow your blog, and therefore follow you, you’ve gotta have an active blog. Active means you’re posting on it a minimum of three times a week. I’ve gone to blogs before where it’s been weeks, or even months since a post was written. Makes the blog feel abandoned, kind of like a ghost town, and I don’t have any desire to return to that blog anytime soon. If you’re going to be out of town, preschedule blog posts to go up automatically in your absence. Blog about your books and your writing, of course, but also blog about other books, about personal (though not intimately personal) things, movies you like, about your last vacation, about things happening in your life. That’s what your readers want to read. 

2.    Facebook: I think this is one of the most overlooked pieces of free marketing out there. Millions of people are on Facebook each day, and if you can build a good followership, it’s a really great way to keep your name, face, and books out there in front of people. Don’t constantly write about your books, or people will begin to avoid you. Talk about other things as well. Read and comment on others’ posts. DON’T spam your book. That’s the fastest way to get yourself un-friended and/or blocked by people. It’s really bad form to comment on someone else’s posts for no reason other than to pimp your book. Unless they’ve specifically asked you to talk about or post about your book, then don’t, other than on your own wall.  

3.    Twitter: Twitter is confusing to a lot of people. It’s not that difficult once you grasp the idea that it’s simply like posting on Facebook, only you’re bound by 140 characters per post. Follow the basic etiquette on Twitter as you would on Facebook (no spamming). The biggest difference is that on Twitter you’ll be posting several times a day vs. the once or twice a day you’ll post on Facebook (I mean original post, not commenting). Also, if someone mentions you in a Tweet, you should re-Tweet their post. They’ll appreciate it, and it’s an acceptable way of spamming. 

4.    Save Yourself Some Time: Marketing can become deeply time-consuming.  Here are a few tips for saving yourself time:  
1.    Only have a blog or a website, not both. It’s too difficult to try to keep both maintained. (Note: If you go with a website, make sure you can easily blog on it as well)
2.    Tie it all together. Connect your blog, Facebook, and Twitter so that when you post on your blog, it shows on both FB and Twitter, and when you Tweet it shows on FB. That way you only have to post the info once. Huge timesaver.
3.    Tweet from your phone. Not only does this spread your Tweets out through the day, it makes it easier to think of what to Tweet. Tweet about what you just did/saw/ate/bought.
5.    Goodreads: This is where authors, readers, and bloggers intermingle the most. It’s a site dedicated to books and reading. Be active on GR, join groups and then play the games others start, join in writing games they’ll have, review others’ books, put books you’ve read or plan to read on your bookshelf. This is where you’ll meet bloggers who may help you when you publish a book by either being willing to review your book, or being part of your blog tour. Become familiar to potential readers. Spamming rules apply here the same as anywhere: DON’T do it!
 

6.    Join a Blog Hop: In case you’ve never heard of a blog hop, this is where a specific blog will host the hop, you sign up to join, on the day of the hop your post something to do with the hop (for example, a Summer Blog Hop you might write about a fun summer memory, or what you love about summer), and then you host a giveaway. Give away your own book, a gift card where someone can buy a book, or a book someone else has donated. For the giveaway, you can have certain requirements for the reader to enter. I highly suggest that you only have one absolute requirement for them to enter. Require too many and they’ll just skip on by because it’s too much effort. However, after that one requirement you can add extra options for additional chances to win (make sure you follow the guidelines set out by the hop host). The point of this is to drive traffic to your blog where they’ve “hopped” from another blog by clicking on the list that will be at the bottom of everyone’s posts. You can use entry options like following your blog, liking your fan page on FB, following you on Twitter, following you on GR, adding your book to their shelf on GR or Shelfari, etc.
 

7.    Friend Book Bloggers: Until I became an author I had no idea this whole world of book bloggers were out there influencing how books are read. Bloggers generally have avid followers who will buy—or not buy—a book based on the bloggers opinion. Bloggers can make or break your book. After you’ve written a good book and had it well-edited, get yourself some bloggers who will review your book, or at least spotlight you and your book. Without bloggers, it’s going to be very difficult for you to get your book out there for the world to discover. They are the biggest marketing treasure you’ll find.
 

8.    Other Social Media Marketing: Joins sites such as Pinterest, Shelfari, Library Thing, LinkedIn, etc., in order to broaden your reach. We live in an electronic world, and that’s how you’re going to sell your book—by getting word of it out into the world. These sites are all free to join. Just be careful to not overextend yourself—only join as many sites as you can reasonably keep up with.
 

9.    Bookmarks: This may seem a strange marketing tip, but it’s one of the most valuable. Create business cards and most people are going to toss them or file them somewhere and never look at them again. But everyone (who reads anyway) loves a bookmark. Don’t make homemade ones, or go to your local printer where they’re going to be overpriced or cheesy. If you do that. People are going to throw them away rather than keeping them. You can have nice, 2” x 8”, fully laminated, full color bookmarks online for around a nickel each (or less if you order more) (online from GotPrint.net) that people are going to hold onto because they’re very nice, very professional, and look like they weren’t cheap. For that amount of money, it’s really easy to hand them out in droves. Give them to everyone you know. Include them in books people buy from you. Send them to bloggers to use for giveaways. Having a book signing? Probably won’t sell a lot of actual books, but if you’re putting your bookmark into everyone’s hand that is there, you’re going to have online sells later. 
 

10.    Don’t Expect Someone Else to Market for You: Whether you self-publish or traditionally publish, no one is going to market for you. Many authors have the unrealistic expectation that if you have a publisher, they’re going to be out there pushing your book, creating posters to hang up, and billboards, and all you have to do is sit back and wait for the checks to roll in. Unless they’ve given you a $2M advance, that isn’t going to happen. It’s utterly and entirely up to you (they may do a little, but not enough to force your book into any kind of decent sales numbers). This is your baby, your career, your income on the line. So get out there and market the heck out of your book—without spamming which will kill you as much as not marketing. Be smart, watch what other author’s do, learn everything you can, and help your book to become the success it deserves to be.
 

Cindy C Bennett was born and raised in beautiful Salt Lake City, growing up in the shadows of the majestic Rocky Mountains. She lives with her husband, two daughters, and two dogs. She also has two sons. She volunteers her time working with teen girls between the ages of 12-18, all of whom she finds to be beautiful, fascinating creatures. When she’s not writing, reading or answering emails she can often times be found riding her Harley through the beautiful canyons near her home.

Find Cindy Online:


Amazon Barnes &amp; Noble Smashwords CreateSpace
Amazon Barnes &amp; Noble Deseret Book photo Deseretbook_zps877b35a8.jpg
Amazon Barnes &amp; Noble Smashwords CreateSpace
Amazon Barnes &amp; Noble Smashwords CreateSpace
Amazon Barnes &amp; Noble Photobucket
Amazon Barnes &amp; Noble Smashwords



Amazon Barnes &amp; Noble Noble YA CreateSpace



Amazon Barnes &amp; Noble Smashwords



Amazon Barnes &amp; Noble Smashwords CreateSpace


Thanks so much for being here today, Cindy, and for sharing these great tips!

Be sure to check out my Blogger Book Fair giveaway for a chance to win one of eight books, including two of Cindy's!


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