Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Cross the Line Teaser!



I dropped the last box on the brown tiles and worried whether I’d packed anything breakable inside. With my luck, I had. Relieved to be done moving, I was already tired of the new city I called home even though I’d only been in it for a few hours. If I didn’t find something appealing about the place soon, I would be looking into moving again like when I’d wanted to get out of Billings, Montana. Nothing had been wrong with the old place, I get bored easy and like to move around is all.

My new best friend roared to life, blowing cool air from the vents. Ignoring the open front door, I sat down on the box I’d dropped. I did my best to rub the knots out of my lower back, but with achy arms, I wasn’t doing so well. Sweat trickled down my forehead, requiring me to stop my half-attempt at a massage, grab a washcloth from a nearby bag and mop at the sweat. How did people live like this? Why I’d decided to accept the job offer in Phoenix was beyond me. But moving in the middle of the Phoenix summer? Even worse. Now I could understand why Arizona had earned the nickname “the devil’s playground.”

Playground? Not sure that would be the right word choice because I was convinced I’d arrived in hell itself.

A knock on the door made me jump up from the box, making every strain in my muscles and joints become more prominent. The pain quickly faded as a luscious vision in denim leaned against my doorframe, looking sexy as sin.

A shot of heat spread through my body. I had no idea why he instantly turned me on. I didn’t find goatees attractive, wasn’t into the whole tattoo bit, or the almost too tight t-shirt style, but it all looked perfect on this man. This man definitely had the talent to pull off the bad boy look that made women drop to their knees. Me included.

I quickly ran my fingers through my hair. It had once been in a complete ponytail, but was only partially bound by a hairband at this point. I looked like a mess and knew it. What a great way to start out meeting someone so handsome. But that’s my luck and I had accepted it long ago. To make the best of the situation, I wiped my sweaty palm down my jean shorts before holding it out to him. “Hi. My name’s Leslie Teague.”

“Chris Matthews.” He barely touched my hand before dropping it, as if scorched. He cocked his head toward the front of my apartment. “Need help with that truck out front?”

“I would’ve taken you up on your offer a little earlier, but I’m done now.” The lie floated from my lips as if the act came as a second nature to me. I never lied to people and never, ever asked anyone for help. So why did I find myself holding my hands out toward the room full of boxes as if presenting a prize? “Unless you want to assist in moving the mattress to my bedroom?” A few suggestions as to what we could do on that mattress came to mind, but I did my best to keep my mouth shut.


Blurb: 

Leslie thought she had it all, until Chris showed her the rest. 

Another move and a bigger paycheck are all Leslie Teague depends on. Living the ‘no strings’ attached lifestyle has always worked for her…until she arrives in Phoenix. 

She doesn’t like bad boy types of men, so why can’t she keep her hands off Chris Matthews, who also just happens to be her new neighbor? 

Content warning, this book contains a fulfilled fantasy, adult language, and a life saved.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Sick and other stuff

So where have I been?? I had a few job interviews last week. Didn't get one of the jobs and am waiting on the other to call. Saturday I was hit with what I thought were allergies but I quickly realized was a nasty cold. So I've been sick sick sick. Lounging on my couch all day, sleeping off and on throughout the day, and having a headache so I can't work on anything is not my idea of fun. Take the headache away and I'd be able to cough while I type... yep, much better lol.

I also had to miss some author things this week due to illness. My friend's friend came to town to do a workshop at my RWA chapter meeting. I was looking forward to meeting her but couldn't go. I also had to reschedule an appearance on a paranormal blog talk radio tonight.

I am making progress on my novel Beach Bodies. I signed up for a March challenge where we all write 1,500 words a day. I haven't been meeting the word count goal this week but hopefully will soon.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

LIVE CHAT with ME!

Tonight (Tuesday the 7th!) I will be chatting with readers along with some other authors on Coffee Time Romance. Come chat with us. You can ask me any questions or just have fun! I'd love to see you there. I will be giving away a copy of Dreaming of Him!

Chat starts at  9pm EST. and here is where you log in: http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/ctr_chat2.html

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Marketing with Kathy Rowe!

This is kind of a follow-up article to the one I did a while back. As authors, most of us detest the "M" word. I'm no exception. But, if you play your cards right, marketing opportunities can literally fall in your lap- FREE ones at that!

So, now you're wondering what stupendous things I'm going to tell you. This works very well if you're a prolific author. The reason being, the tactic is to draw folks to you, and your hopefully healthy backcatalog. This is pretty much a no-cost option to getting ebooks in people's hands. And you know what? I didn't think this up. I owe all the credit to one of my Indie author peers. He suggested this to me, simply because it worked for him—so well, he finally got to quit his day job and become a writer full time. How did he do it? He wrote a "free" ebook.

By free, he explained to me that I was to write either a novella or a full length novel. Even better, make it the first book in a series to get readers hooked and wanting more. Once completed, I got beta readers to go over it, and made any corrections. Since I have the know-how, I formatted and did the cover—all for little to no cost. The less money I put into it, the better. It didn't mean I was to cut corners, no, that book had probably 12 editing passes by me. Was it perfect? No! In fact I've had to make corrections and upload new versions. But I did the best I could for the lack of money.
Once you have this free ebook done, now you need to get it up on the internet for the entire world to see. This is where it can get a little tricky. We all know Amazon is the best place to get exposure. BUT, they won't let you put a book up there for free (unless you do the KDP Select with it). So, how do you get Az to price your book for free if you don't want to do Select? It requires a little patience, but in the end, it's worth it.

First: publish the book on Smashwords.com. You can list it there for free. Cool, tell folks about it. SW isn't as well known and the mighty Az, but, they also have a deal with Az that involves price matching. So, once your book is showing up free on SW, go to Az and publish there (just slap a .99 price on it for now) then get your friends, fellow authors, whomever, to log onto Az and use the price matching feature. They will need the link to your book for both sites. It took me just over a month and Az dropped the price to free.

Second: the media blitz. Facebook is a wealth of information, if you know where to look—or like me, just have dumb luck and stumble upon it. I started noticing my "friends" showing links to eReader News Daily and Pixel of Ink. Both are sites that post free Kindle books on a daily basis. I went to the eReader News website, found a contact email, and sent them a very polite email letting them know I had a free ebook on Amazon (and it was totally free, not KDP Select) and gave them the link. They sent me a nice email back and informed me of the day they would post my book (it was a Friday, I think). Up until now, my book had seen good movement in the free sci-fi-adventure category on Az but nothing fantastic. After eReader News posted that link, I could sit and watch my downloads going up by the very minute! I had over 1,000 downloads in ONE DAY!!! I was absolutely amazed! At the peak of the downloading frenzy, my book was #4 on the list. 

Third: don't sit back on your laurels. Yes, I had a "bestseller" on my hands, but that didn't mean I stopped. I did my best to politely post on as many Facebook pages as I could— being mindful not to be spammy about it. I used Twitter and finally figured out how those hashtags worked. By using #free #ebook #Kindle #sci-fi in my tweets, folks searching those words might stumble over my link for the book. It must've worked; I've picked up quite a few new followers on Twitter. Which leads me to:

Fourth: steering them to you! We're all just minnows in this giant sea of publishing. So how do you get someone to find you? Well, simple, tell them! When posting on Facebook or Twitter, don't be afraid to insert your Amazon author's page link. Yes, you're tooting your own horn, but in case you haven't noticed, no one else is there to do it for you. And make sure that page is as compelling as you can get it. Have the best picture you can of yourself, a bio that's interesting, perhaps a bit funny, and engages your audience to want to know more about you and your books. Basically, you're pimping yourself.

Okay, so now you've done all this, what to expect? I have the book posted on SW, Az, and Barnes and Noble—all for free. What I've seen is a gradual increase in my backcatalog sales- especially on Az. I went from making $4/mo in royalties on Az to making $20-30/mo. No, it's not a huge jump, but the good thing is I'm selling a book or two every day from my backcatalog. The free ebook is still getting downloads (it has fallen in the ranking but is still in the top 100) and now folks have hopefully read their free sample and are looking at what else I have to offer; or looking forward to part two. 

Now, what next?  More marketing! What? What? You say? More??!! Yes, this is the easiest of all. When you are formatting your books, don't forget to either put in the front or back matter any links you have: website, Facebook page, Twitter handle, anyway you would want your adoring fans to have access to you. ---A word of caution: DO NOT put your Az author page, or your SW author page—you will run into problems with conflicts of interest between the sellers and they may dump your book. Just use non-company related sites. If the book is part one of a series, don't forget to put: "Watch for Part 2 of ________" so they know there is more to come. And list any of your backcatalog along with your bio at the end, so they know you offer something else to read.

This strategy worked well for me. Will it work for you? You never know until you try. There are so many ways to get your book out there, but for many of us, we can't afford to fork out loads of dough for advertising. So use what's freely available and make it work. Don't be afraid to be creative—we're writers for Pete's sake—we're supposed to be creative!

Until next time, my creatively obsessed friends,
Kathy

Helpful links:
http://www.pixelofink.com/

 My Az author page: (yes, that photo is just about a year old now)
And the link to my free ebook:

 Here's a few inspirational pictures of the world I live in: these are literally in my backyard.



Sunday, March 4, 2012

Janet Evanovich's Advice I Haven't Been Following!

I have a story for you and it isn't a pleasant one. The story is about how I haven't been following Janet Evanovich's advice.

Before I start my story, I feel as though I need to be completely honest with you. I never met Janet. Even though I talk to some best selling authors, I have never chatted with Janet, even on Facebook. However, she did give advice, and I haven't been following it.

So here is my story:
When I received my first book contract I was on cloud nine. I had officially became an author. I had crossed the line from hobby writer to making a career at it. I told every single person I talked to. My kids often said at that time, "Geez, mom! You always manage to bring up the fact that you're an author to every person you talk to." And I did. Some how I'd slip it into the conversation with natural flow. People usually love talking to authors. Once the person showed interest in my books, I'd bring out the promo stuff. This went on for a year and half with a few more book contracts in that time frame.

Then I enrolled in a new college program. I started the program and told my new classmates that I was an author. This group of people were so supportive. We moved from one class to the next. This same group of people were with me in that class too because we were still in our general education classes. Everyone had been supportive of me being an author. Most of them thought my author status was exciting. I did notice that when my instructors found out, they put higher standards up for me. Hmm.. Not really fair in my opinion. I told my group of friends that I was going to stop telling the instructors that I write books. They agreed to keep it quiet. Then I started my first paralegal class.

Being an author quickly turned into my dirty little secret at school. I was embarrassed when anyone brought it up. My main paralegal instructor had found out and then told his friend who later became my instructor. He would mention me being an author a lot. I'd change the subject. One day a classmate said, "Yeah, and some people toot their own horn way to often," and gave me a smirk. This woman hated me and managed to get her entire group of friends to ignore me at all costs. Some of these people had previously been my friends. Everything this group did hurt me a lot and made it really hard to be in school every day.

I had became so self-conscience about being an author (and myself in general) that I stopped talking about it away from school too. I started a new job (linked to my college) and I didn't even want them to know. I became really close with some of my coworkers and they had no idea that I was an author. I felt like I was lying the entire time but was too shy about being an author. I didn't want those people to treat me weird like the people at school had.

To me, I'm just myself. I have this ability to make wonderful stories and characters up in my head. I do the required work to share with others. Its a combination of hard work and talent. I should never have been ashamed, embarrassed, or shy.

So the other day I browsed through the public library. I always check the writing book section and noticed a book called How I Write by Janet Evanovich. I own a Janet novel (Twelve Sharp) but never had read it. The reason why I even own it is because I had belonged to a book club and the book was the selected one for the month. I had forgotten to mark "don't send" so I got it. Being to lazy to send the book back, I paid for it. I'm glad I did.

I checked out Janet's book on writing and stayed up half the night reading. Some of the advice had been targeted for new writers but something at the beginning of the book smacked me in the face. It is this:

 "When people ask what you do, tell them you're a writer. Put yourself on the line. Make a commitment." 

During the time in that college, I had lost the commitment to myself, to my books, and to my readers. I regret that but have learned from the mistake and will be committed from here on out. Thank you, Janet, for your excellent advice!

I have to go now... I'm currently hooked on Janet's Plum Series so I gotta read! By the way, if you'd like to find out more about my 5 books you can find them here http://www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=authors&authors_id=87

Friday, March 2, 2012

Arizona Dreamin' Reader Event!

Just wanted to share this awesome opportunity for you to meet some awesome authors!


Phoenix’s ONLY Romance Reader Event:

MARK YOUR CALENDERS NOW!

SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 2012

in CHANDLER, ARIZONA 

  • Meet 20 authors of various genres of romance.
  • Choose 6 you find the most interesting for “Book Clubs” – 10 readers with 1 author in 30-minute sessions to ask them questions and talk about their books.
  • Event Bookstore with discounted pricing.
  • Free Hospitality Suite with snacks and beverages.
  • Meet Jimmy Thomas, international book-cover model, and have your photo taken for a charitable donation.
  • All-you-can-eat Buffet Dinner.
  • “Man of Our Dreams” cover model competition during dinner.
  • Huge raffle baskets.
  • FREE goody bags for everyone!
  • Meet with two publishers to see if there is a book in you.

This is a glorified “Girl’s Night Out” with romance authors!

PLUS – Friday evening Wine Reception for just $10 (includes all of your snacks & beverages).

Hotel suites include a hot breakfast and are only $79 a night (plus tax) when you mention “Arizona Dreamin.” A suite with 2 double beds and a sleeper sofa can sleep 3 comfortably.

TO FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION VISIT: http://arizonadreamin.wordpress.com/

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Writing Prompt!

Here is our writing prompt for today.

Rules: The first person to comment adds a sentence to the story. Then the second person adds another sentence and so on. All of the sentences added together should make sense and flow together. You can post more than once but please take turns. Let's see how long we can keep this going!

Sabrina and her child should've been able to enjoy paradise but...