GIVEAWAY!

No, I'm still on hiatus, but I wanted to share a little something.  

An Alleged Author

is holding a GIVEAWAY!

Just hop on over to her blog and comment on this post and

you will automatically be entered to win a FREE

PRINT or Ebook copy of

The Mistaken!

How easy is that?!!

On Tour Today: CARRIE BUTLER, author of STRENGTH, Offers Marketing Tips

It’s my great pleasure today to my have pub-sister, Carrie Butler, over during her blog tour.

So, take it away, Carrie…

Marketing Voodoo - Selling the Experience, Not the Product

Back in college, I had a harsh marketing professor. He had a voice like a megaphone, loved to single students out, and rarely admitted he was wrong. But you know what? His lessons stuck with me.

"We're not just selling features," he'd always bark. "We're selling benefits."

One day, he had us go around and try to pitch whatever writing utensil we'd used to take notes on his lecture. Right there. On the spot.

Of course, the first unlucky few floundered about, grasping for a quick summarization. "Well, it's a Papermate mechanical pencil. I found it in the hall. It says it's, uh, one-point-zero millime—"

"Next!"

As he went around the classroom, the lesson became glaringly apparent. He was waiting for us to sell the benefits over the features—the experience over the product. "This isn't just a pen," I declared when he called on me, thrusting my cheap-o clicky pen into the air. "It's a statement."

He rubbed his chin. "How so?"

"It was handcrafted in India," I lied. "Eighteen-karat gold clip, refillable cartridge, polished... uh, barrel. Do you know what this pen says about me? It says I have good taste. It says I'm a professional who's willing to invest in her career. It says... I'm just a little more successful than you are."

Plus, it says I love BS-ing people. That pen cost me ninety-nine cents.

Now, mind you, the exercise was just for fun—and we all had a good laugh about it—but it does beg the question: Are you selling benefits or features?

What do you love about your book? Is it the fact that it's a 389-page paranormal romance that's making strides in the new adult category? Of course not. You love the way it made you feel the first time you daydreamed about it. You love how your heart raced alongside your characters' as the scenes unraveled. So, what if you started pitching it that way?

Don't spam-tweet us that your book is available on Amazon for $3.99. Invite us in to experience your world. Give us a teaser. Share a reviewer's first impression. Take my fabulous host, for example:

Nancy S. Thompson ‏@NancySThompson

“Thompson writes cinematographic scenes of violence that contrast perfectly w/ those of tenderness & love.” 5 stars http://ow.ly/hj8V9 

Doesn't that make you want to read THE MISTAKEN? If I didn't already own two copies, I'd check that link out!

So, if you take nothing else away from this post, remember that your readers are people—not numbers. They want to share the experience of that daydream. They want to connect with it on an emotional level. You just have to reach out to them. :)

About Strength

When college student Rena Collins finds herself nose-to-chest with the campus outcast, she’s stunned. Wallace Blake is everything she’s ever wanted in a man—except he can’t touch her. His uncontrollable strength, a so-called gift from his bloodline, makes every interaction dangerous. And with a secret, supernatural war brewing among his kind, there’s no time to work it out. To keep Wallace in her life, Rena will have to risk a whole lot more than her heart.

Where to buy:

AMAZON | KINDLE | BARNES & NOBLE | NOOK

KOBO | ITUNES BOOKSTORE | DIESEL | BAKER & TAYLOR

About the Author

Carrie daydreamed her way through college—until they thrust a marketing degree into her hands, slapped a summa cum laude seal on the corner, and booted her out into a less-than-stellar job market. Instead of panicking at the prospect of unemployment, she used her Midwestern logic to steer into the skid and point her life in the direction she really wanted to go: writing out those daydreams.

Where to find Carrie:

WEBSITE  |  BLOG  |  PUBLISHER  |  TWITTER  |  FACEBOOK  |  GOODREADS  |  GOOGLE+

Where to find Strength:

BOOK PAGE  |  GOODREADS  |  PUBLISHER  |  FACEBOOK  |  PINTEREST  |  BOOK TRAILER

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Big Release Day: Carrie Butler's STRENGTH

I am SOOOO excited!!
Today is the Big Release Day for Carrie Butler’s
New Adult paranormal romance debut…

Title: Strength

Series: Mark of Nexus – Book 1

Publisher: Sapphire Star Publishing   
Category: New Adult (NA)
Genre: Paranormal Romance (PNR)
Release Date: March 07, 2013
Available at: Amazon, Kindle, Barnes and Noble, and Nook. More retailers will be added in the coming weeks, i.e. Sony Reader Store, iBookstore, Kobo, etc. Be sure to keep an eye on Carrie's Pinterest "Retailers" board. She updates it whenever STRENGTH pops up somewhere. :)

Here's the scoop:

When college student Rena Collins finds herself nose-to-chest with the campus outcast, her rumor-laced notions are shattered. Handsome, considerate, and seemingly sane, Wallace Blake doesn’t look like he spends his nights alone, screaming and banging on the walls of his dorm room. Hell, he doesn’t look like he spends his nights alone, period.

Too curious for her own good, Rena vows to uncover the truth behind Wallace’s madman reputation—and how two seconds of contact had left her with bruises. Of course, there are a few minor setbacks along the way: guilt, admiration, feelings of the warm and fuzzy variety…

Not to mention the unwanted attention of Wallace's powerful, supernaturally-gifted family.

They’re a bloodline divided by opposing ideals, two soon-to-be warring factions that live in secret among us. When Rena ends up caught in their crossfire, Wallace has no choice but to save her by using his powers. Now they’re really in trouble. With war on the horizon and Rena’s life in the balance, he needs to put some distance between them. But Rena won’t let go. If fighting is what it takes to prove her own strength and keep Wallace in her life, then that’s what she’ll do—even if it means risking a whole lot more than her heart.

Seriously, this book is so freaking awesome and Carrie is crazy talented!  The voice is unlike any I've ever read, and Rena, the protagonist, is one bad-ass chick, just like Carrie!  Make sure you enter Carrie's giveaway below.

Carrie daydreamed her way through college—until they thrust a marketing degree into her hands, slapped a summa cum laude seal on the corner, and booted her out into a less-than-stellar job market. Instead of panicking at the prospect of unemployment, she used her Midwestern logic to steer into the skid and point her life in the direction she really wanted to go: writing out those daydreams.

Where to find Carrie:

WEBSITE  |  BLOG  |  PUBLISHER  |  TWITTER  |  FACEBOOK  |  GOODREADS  |  GOOGLE+

Where to find Strength:

BOOK PAGE  |  GOODREADS  |  PUBLISHER  |  FACEBOOK  |  PINTEREST  |  BOOK TRAILER

a Rafflecopter giveaway

SSP Merry Jubilee & the 2012 Blog of the Year Award

Just a couple of things before I break for the holidays.

First, from Christmas through New Year’s Day, Sapphire Star Publishing will be holding its Merry Jubilee.  They'll have 10 books priced at just $0.99.

The Mistaken

Carter’s Treasure

Finding Claire Fletcher

When We Collide

The Restaurant @ the Mill

Sophie’s Turn

Taking Charge

Dangerous Embrace

The Quintessential Gemini

Murder in Silence

Plus, they'll be giving away an Apple iPad 2 to one lucky winner!  

Contest will be run through Rafflecopter with entries for: 

• Tweeting or FB sharing which SSP book they picked up for $0.99, shared from their Amazon page. 10 points
• Share SSP's Merry Jubilee post on Facebook 5 points
• Post list of books on blog 5 points 
• Like SSP on FB 2 points
• Tweet about the giveaway 2 points
• Share the funniest gift you've ever received on SSP FB page 1 point
• Share your New Year's resolution on the SSP FB page 1 point

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Official Giveaway Rules:

Giveaway Prize:  One (1) Apple® - iPad® 2 with Wi-Fi – 16 GB – White. No purchase necessary. This contest is void where prohibited by law. Entrants must follow Rafflecopter instructions. One (1) winner will be picked via Rafflecopter and will be notified by email within three days of end of contest. If a winner is unreachable after seven (7) days, or if that winner is unavailable for prize fulfillment, an alternate winner will be selected.  Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. Contest entrants agree to abide by the terms of these Official Rules and by the decisions of the contest commissioners, which are final on all matters pertaining to the contest. Entrants grant to Sapphire Star Publishing the right to use and publish their name online. All results posted are unofficial until winner responds to e-mail notification. Contest ends on January 2, 2013 at 12:00 a.m. PST.

Second, my pub sister, Nicky Wells, has bestowed upon me the 2012 Blog of the Year Award!

Do you know a blog that deserves an award? Do you have special blogs that you love to read? Which blogs do you bookmark and follow? Would you like to give them an award this year?  Then the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award is for you!

The ‘rules’ for this award are simple:

·        Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award

·        Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ them with their award.

·        Please include a link back to this page and include these ‘rules’ in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!)

·        Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them

·        You can now also join our Facebook group – click ‘like’ on this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award Facebook group and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience

·        As a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award – and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting stars…

           

Yes – that’s right – there are stars to collect!

Unlike other awards which you can only add to your blog once – this award is different!

When you begin, you will receive the ‘1 star’ award – and every time you are given the award by another blog – you can add another star!  There are a total of 6 stars to collect, which means you can check out your favorite blogs – and even if they have already been given the award by someone else – you can still bestow it on them again and help them to reach the maximum 6 stars!

Thank you so very much, Nicky Wells ~ Romance That Rocks Your World!

I’d like to pass the torch on to:

Luanne Smith at Bards and Prophets

Carrie Butler at So You’re a Writer

Samantha May at Writing Through College

 Julie Leuk at A Thought Grows

Heather M. Gardner at Waiting is the Hardest Part     

 

I pray you all have a very blessed Christmas

and a happy New Year!

In the News Today...

Although today is my regular day to post, I’m gonna hold off on anything major until Friday,

when three of my favorite guys,

Alex J. Cavanaugh, Matthew MacNish, and Andrew Leon, host the 

I Miss You Blogfest.

The bloggers we really miss…
and the ones we would really miss!

Do you have a couple blogger buddies who aren’t posting as often? Those who’ve pulled back and seem absent from the blogging world? Do you have blogger buddies you are grateful they are still around and would miss if they vanished? Now is your chance to show your appreciation and spotlight them!

On November 16, list one to three bloggers you really miss and one to three bloggers you would miss if they stopped blogging. Then go leave a comment on those blogs.

Our blogger friends are special – time to let them know! 

So drop by and sign up if you haven’t already.

Also in the news...

Blogging buddies Stephen Tremp, Mary Pax, C. M. Brown, and Christine Rains have put together a new group called Writers4Writers.  This group is all about promoting authors and their books.  Here’s their mission:

• Help writers bring awareness of their book(s) to tens of thousands of new people

• Help writers reach Amazon Top 100 in at least one category (suspense, free, whatever)

• Increase sales of their book(s) after the promo is over

• Drive new traffic to their blog and increase following

• Create verbal and viral buzz.

Every month, one to three spotlighted authors will choose a social media avenue such as Twitter or Facebook (or both).  On the selected day, the authors will post pre-written Tweets on their blogs.  At your convenience, simply copy and paste Tweets into Twitter. Or go to #W4WS on Twitter and Retweet other Tweets. 

And for Facebook, the authors will also post an image of their book along with a short blurb and a link to Kindle on their blog. Visitors simply click the Facebook page then share the link with their FB friends and Writers Groups.

That’s an incredibly large new audiences the author could not reach on their own.  Imagine, a hundred bloggers over a few days Tweeting and sharing links for new books and reaching potentially tens of thousands of new people!

As an author with a new release, this is super exciting.  But what’s even more thrilling is that I am their first featured author!  Can you imagine how delighted I was to be asked to kick-off such an amazing new project?  

If you’re interested, go to the hosts’ websites and signup using the Linky Tools.  And if you're on Facebook, click here to like their page.  I’d love to have your help in not only promoting my new novel, but many others, as well.  And when the time comes, you may be asked to be a featured author, too. 

Talk about paying it forward!

And last, but not least, one of my five blog tour runner-up winners of an ebook copy of The Mistaken asked that I award it to someone who actually owns an e-reader.  So, on behalf of Gary Pennick at Klahanie, the winner chosen by Random.org is #33...

Rachel Morgan  

Rachel, if you’re interested, please email me at acadia1997@msn.com.  I’ll also email you directly.         

Interested in the I Miss You Blogfest?

Wanna join Writers4Writers and help promote other authors?

Have any other news to share?

Book Giveaway, Alex's Awesome Surprise, & the IWSG

Today is the first Wednesday of the month, time for

Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group

But first…the results for my blog tour book giveaway!

There were 76 entries total, way more than I anticipated.  My thanks to all for dropping by and commenting during my tour.  Your support means everything to me! 

All right then, I wrote down the names of every follower who commented, assigned each a number, then used Random.org to generate the winning numbers, starting first with the runner-ups.

Those five runner-up winners of an ebook copy of The Mistaken are:

#18      Samantha May

#52      Chris Fries

#48      Klahanie

#38      L. Diane Wolfe

#64      Emily R. King

And the grand prize winner of my last signed ARC of The Mistaken is:

#66      Julie Luek

Winners, please contact me at acadia1997@msn.com

so I can get your info and send out your prize.

One more thing before my brief IWSG post:

Did you happen to see Alex J. Cavanaugh’s post last Monday?  Alex is one of three published authors who “blurbed” for my book.  His name and quote appear on the very first page along with Jennifer Hillier, author of Creep and Freak and New York Times bestselling author, Kevin O’Brien.

Alex said, “That’s even more exciting than my name on the cover of my own books.”  I sent him a signed copy with a nice little note of thanks for both his blurb and for being the driving force behind my blog tour and helping me every step of the way.  I could not have done it without him!

THANK YOU SO MUCH, ALEX!!

Okay, so now that I’ve accomplished my goal and have published my debut novel, I find myself worrying more than I ever thought I would.  Sure, I told myself it really didn’t matter how well my book sold.  I just wanted to get it out there.  But yeah, it kinda doesn’t work that way, at least, not in my mind. 

I want people to read it.  And I want those who do to love it, or at least like it, even just a little bit.  But more than anything, I want readers to rate/review it on Amazon and Goodreads.  So now I have a whole new slew of things to worry about:  Is it selling, will they like it, and will they spread the word?  It’s really way too early in the game for me to be obsessing over these things.  It’s a marathon, not a sprint.  Still, it’s there.  *sigh*

But oooh, look!  I have 499 GFC followers!

Maybe I’ll do another ebook giveaway once I reach 500. 

  

Any suggestions on how to do that one?