LADY LIGHTKEEPER VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR BEGINS TODAY AT PUMP UP

We have a special guest today at Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion! Nikki Leigh, author of Lady Lightkeeper – Book Two in the Misty Cove Chronicles is here with us today to tell us how she pumps up her online book promotion! Welcome to Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion, Nikki! Can you tell us about yourself and your book, Lady Lightkeeper? I’m a full time freelancer and I have fiction and non fiction books in print. I’ve always enjoyed creating and as a kid, my family was sure that I would create board games as an adult. I loved to write and even my second grade teachers remembers that I wanted to be a writer. At this time, I’m working on three series – Lady Lightkeeper is the second book in my Misty Cove Chronicles. It’s the continuing story of Lizbeth Sullivan Kinsey – a strong and independent woman in 1840’s and 1850’s Cape Ann, Massachusetts. She has strong ties to the local lighthouse since her father died in 1841 when the lighthouse wasn’t shining as a bad storm approached the Cape Ann coast. Lady Lightkeeper is women’s fiction and not strictly a romance. Can you explain this? As I mentioned above, Lizbeth is a strong woman. She is determined to do things her way. That does cause some problems for her – independent minded women weren’t the norm in the 1840’s. The stories – Widow’s Walk and Lady Lightkeeper focus on Lizbeth’s struggles and how she grows as a person. But, romance fans should not despair. There is a hunky hero. Most readers have fallen in love with Lizbeth’s husband, William. As Lady Lightkeeper opens, William’s ship is late coming home and Lizbeth is sitting on the catwalk of the Stormy View lighthouse watching for his boat to come home. In regards to promoting your book, what have you been doing to promote online? That sounds like an easy question. I have an extensive website (just over 100 pages) which deals with each of my books, the setting, the background, the characters and more. I participate on a number of message boards. Readers’ Station is a group that I founded with a group of author friends (http://www.readersstation.com/). I’m the Self Promotion Topic Editor for Inspired Author (http://www.inspiredauthor.com/) and I have a number of blogs. Muze’s Musings is my primary blog and on that page (http://www.muzesmusings.blogspot.com/) you can find the list of my book theme promo blogs that other authors can post on. In addition, I have several My Space pages and I’m a member on several ning.com networks. In August, I began working with you at Pump Up Your Book Promotion. There’s probably more, that’s just the things that come to mind at the moment. Of all the promotional (bookmarks, press kits, etc.) items you’ve used to promote your book, can you tell us which ones were the most beneficial? I’m not sure any promo items have been great. The oversize postcards for Lilah worked well with bookstores and made it possible for them to recognize me and the book when I walked in the door. I think my promotional samplers have worked very well and they are a great way for people to learn more about my series and to get a sense of my writing style. I send those to anyone who sends a message and asks for them. If you’d like to see them, drop me a message at nikki-leigh@excite.com. Do you feel that the Internet has opened doors for authors who never dreamed they’d ever see a publishing contract and how has it influenced you in regards to your own publishing journey? The internet has been invaluable for honing my writing skills, getting motivated to stick with writing, finding a publisher, doing extensive research and to promote. I honestly could not do the same quality of research and include the same degree of authenticity in my stories without the internet. I feel sure that I wouldn’t be published and I wouldn’t be a successful freelancer without the internet. If you were in the middle of Manhattan (or any busy thoroughfare) and you wanted to call attention to your book, what would you do? I’d take my dad with me. We make a great promotional duo and we proved how good we are while we were on the Outer Banks promoting Lilah. If you could trade places with any author just for a day, who would it be? I’m not sure. But, it would involve spending a day at a huge writer’s conference where I could meet a lot of readers. I’m actually pretty happy to be Nikki Leigh at the moment. Lastly, how do you determine your book’s success? I treasure messages from readers. Lately I’ve gotten a number of messages requesting that I hurry up and finish the Misty Cove series. There is another bunch of people who are pushing me to write the next Cape Hatteras book. Hearing that people enjoy my stories is golden to me. I love book sales, but reaching the reader is my biggest success. Thank you for coming, Nikki! Can you tell us where everyone can pick up a copy of Lady Lightkeeper? Lady Lightkeeper is listed on Amazon or you can visit my website and order an autographed copy from me. I even offer a special price for people who buy more than one book – you could get the first and second book in the Misty Cove Chronicles. Visit my site at www.nikkileigh.com/books_4_sale.htm for links to all sale sites. Okay, guys, now's the time to win a copy of LADY LIGHTKEEPER! Leave a comment and you'll be put in the pot to receive a free copy! Winners will be announced at our blog at http://www.virtualbooktoursforauthors.blogspot.com/ on September 30! But the fun doesn't stop there. Here's a note from Nikki on another great contest she is running: Each person who decides to buy a copy of Lady Lightkeeper, needs to email me a copy of their receipt. I just need a receipt that shows you bought a copy of Lady Lightkeeper and I'll enter you in the drawing for a copy of Widow's Walk. That seemed like a good giveaway since the story starts with Widow's Walk. However, if the winner already has a copy of Widow's Walk, I'll be happy to send a copy of Lilah and the Locket instead. So, leave a comment to enter the drawing to win a free copy of her book, LADY LIGHTKEEPER, but if you can't wait and want to pick up a copy of her book now, email Nikki your receipt and you'll be put in the pot to win another book! Tags: Pump Up Your Book Promotion, virtual book tour, author publicity, book promotion, online book promotion, author interview, Nikki Leigh, Lady Lightkeeper, lighthouse

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