Sheila Roberts on Virtual Book Tour at Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion

We have a very special guest today at Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion! Welcome Sheila Roberts, author of ON STRIKE FOR CHRISTMAS (St. Martin's Press, Nov. '07). Sheila is here with us today to tell us how she pumps up her own online book promotion! Thank you for coming to Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion, Sheila! Can you tell us what your book is about? "On Strike for Christmas" is about a group of girlfriends who decide to (surprise, surprise!) go on strike for the holidays and put their men in charge. At the time it seems like the perfect tool to teach the men to appreciate everything women do to make the holidays merry and bright. It's a big order, and with shopping, baking, decorating, orchestrating holiday events and trips to see Santa, the guys find themselves stuck on a steep learning curve. Will they learn their lesson? And what about the women? Is there a lesson in all this for them, too? Maybe. Who are you published with and how have your experiences with them been so far? I'm published with St. Martin's Press, a wonderful publisher. Everyone at this publishing house is helpful and supportive, and I am happy and grateful to be with them. Can you tell us ways you have been promoting online? I'm promoting on my website (you'll find an excerpt of the book at http://www.sheilasplace.com, and enjoying stopping by great blogs like this one to chat about what I hope will be a fun holiday read for everyone. Can you tell us ways you have been promoting offline? Offline, it's book signing parties, radio interviews, book club visits, and anything else fun that comes along. In your own opinion, what has been the hardest part about being a published author? I think for any author, exposing your brain baby to the world can be a little scary. What if someone doesn't like it, says it's ugly, dumb, bad? We writers love so much to tell stories and we hope readers enjoy them, but we never really know how they'll be received. All we can do is birth them, and then give them a kiss and wish them well as we send them out into the world. The good news is that usually somebody out there does love those stories as much as we do. In your own respective, how do you define success? Setting a goal and achieving it. What’s next for you? Do you have more books in the works? Yes, I'm readying my second book for St. Martin's right now and I'm very excited about it. Thank you for stopping by, Sheila, and much success to you! Thank you, and thanks to those important people who make it all worth while: the readers! Tags: Pump Up Your Book Promotion, virtual book tour, Sheila Roberts, On Strike for Christmas, women's fiction novel

Automatic Social Bookmarking

Happy Thanksgiving!

Automatic Social Bookmarking

How Do I Get People to Buy My Book - Part 3 - Give to the Community

No need to buy books on promotion and marketing when all the secrets for a successful book marketing campaign will be unveiled at Book Marketing Buzz in the upcoming months. Part three in the "How Do I Get People to Buy My Book? series is live at www.bookmarketingbuzz.wordpress.com. Pump up your book promotion by signing up for the feed in the left hand sidebar so you won't miss any future installments. Thank you for stopping by and pump up that book! Tags: Book Marketing Buzz, book promotion tips, book publicity, book marketing campaign

Automatic Social Bookmarking

How Do I Get People to Buy My Book? - Targeting Your Audience

Second installment of "How Can I Get People to Buy My Book?" is posted at Book Marketing Buzz! Today it's how to target your audience. Visit http://www.bookmarketingbuzz.wordpress.com/ and if you have a suggestion to send us on how you get people to buy your books, email us at bookmarketingbuzz(at)yahoo.com and tell us! You may be featured in a future episode! Tags: Book Marketing Buzz, online book promotion, How can I get people to buy my book?

Automatic Social Bookmarking

How to Get People to Buy Your Book - Announcing a Series of Book Marketing Strategies to Help You Sell Your Book!

As everyone knows, I, along with my staff at Pump Up Your Book Promotion, run online book tours, commonly called virtual book tours, for authors on a month-to-month basis. It's very exciting to watch as the tours unfold as to how this reflects into book sales. Halfway through one of my client's tour, I had one of them email me and he said, "I've not sold any books. How come?" On my end, I really don't know how many books an author sells unless I keep a daily track record at Amazon, but how many of those are really sold directly as a result of the virtual book tour anyway? You can track it but you really don't know 100% whether it was because of the tour or it was because of something else entirely different. So, if an author sees no figures moving at Amazon, he automatically thinks his method of book promotion isn't working. The thing about a virtual book tour, I must mention, is that usually you are viewed by at least a thousand people (rough estimate) throughout your tour because of the promotions that are being conducted daily by my staff and I. If I sat here and added up how many people read the promo we send out daily, I'm sure it's well worth over a thousand, but let's just use 1,000 as a starting point. Of those 1,000 people who read the promo, how many of them are actually going to buy your book? Many? A few? Gulp...none? Promo is meant to entice the reader to buy your book but there are many other things that come into focus. Is this a book the reader is interested in? Is this a genre that the reader enjoys? Is this a book that is recommendable? The key thing to remember is that no promo is going to work for you unless the book is recommendable and something the reader is interested in. So, how do you make your book recommendable to the point where everyone is talking about it and how do you get the reader's interest? I'm starting a series on my blog at Book Marketing Buzz where we will tackle that question. Just what will it take for people to buy your book besides holding a loaded gun to their head? If you have a method that has worked for you, email me at thewriterslife(at)yahoo.com and please put "How to Get People to Buy Your Book" in the subject line. You and your book will be featured in a future post in the series at Book Marketing Buzz! Meanwhile, mosey on over there to read the first installment in the series and if you don't want to miss future posts, sign up for the feed in the left hand sidebar. Pump up that book promotion! Tags: How to Get People to Buy Your Book, Book Marketing Buzz, online book promotion

Automatic Social Bookmarking

Testing the Unknown Waters of Self-Publishing

Interesting story I just read in The Wall Street Journal about a man by the name of C. Ben Bosah from Ohio who believed so strongly in his wife's book, "Letters to My Sisters: Plain Truths and Straightforward Advice From a Gynecologist," that he decided to forgo finding an agent or publisher for it (claiming he wanted all the profit for himself) and self-published - to a tune of 15,398 copies and a debt of $40,000. What makes this an unusual story and the reason why it ended up in The Wall Street Journal I suppose is that it shows what people will go through to get their books published with doing little homework on what really goes into the process. It ain't easy. I have a friend who had a book published (as did I) whose publisher went bankrupt; now all we've got to show for our efforts is a book with no home, no profit, and probably a book that will never see life again. While in my case, my co-authors and I are trying to ignore this ever happened, my friend is looking into all different ways of trying to get that book published again and self-publishing was something that was suggested to her. There are many authors who have gone this route; although, it's not for the weak of heart. As was mentioned in the article, a distributor must be found, as well as a printer and everything else that is involved that the ordinary person might not know a thing about. I have a friend, though, Theresa Chaze, who is going that route and she swears by it. Having started her own publishing business to publish her books, she has done her homework and will test the waters out soon. My opinion of self-publishing is that it does create an attractive alternative to having your book published only after you have exhausted all other means of publishing. What I have found in setting up book tours is that often the self-published author is turned down by a prospective blog host simply by the method of publishing which I find ridiculous, but you can't fight city hall. Like I told my friend who is looking into the different methods of publishing, start at the top. If you can't find anyone interested to take it on, self-publishing could be the way to go - ONLY if you've done your homework first and go in with your eyes peeled wide open. But, isn't that with any publisher? Tags: self-publishing, Letters to My Sisters: Plain Truths and Straightforward Advice From a Gynecologist, Wall Street Journal

Automatic Social Bookmarking

2008 New York Book Festival Call for Entries

NEW YORK (November 16, 2007) _ The 2008 New York Book Festival has issued a call for entries to its annual program celebrating books that deserve greater recognition from the world’s publishing capital. Last year, over 20,000 attendees enjoyed the beauty and serenity of Manhattan’s Central Park as they browsed books, listened to music and author readings and enjoyed our food vendors. This year, the day festival will offer expanded stages and new opportunities for authors, publishers, musicians and vendors. The 2008 New York Book Festival will consider published, self-published and independent publisher non-fiction, fiction, children’s books, teenage, how-to, audio/spoken word, comics/’zines, e-books, poetry, wild card (anything goes!), unpublished stories, science fiction, horror, photography/art, romance and biography/autobiography works. A panel of judges will determine the winners based on the following criteria: 1) The story-telling ability of the author. 2) The potential of the work to win wider recognition. Entries can be in English, Spanish, French or Italian and must be published on or after January 1, 2000. Our grand prize for the 2008 New York Book Festival Author of the Year is $1500 and a flight to New York for the awards and our day festival in Central Park. ENTRIES: Please classify your book and enter it in the following categories. Multiple entries must be accompanied by a separate fee for each book. 1) General Non-fiction 2) General Fiction 3) Children’s books 4) E-books 5) Comics/’zines 6) Wild Card (anything goes) 7) Unpublished Stories 8) Teenage 9) Science Fiction 10) Romance 11) Biography/Autobiography 12) Audio/Spoken Word 13) Poetry 14) Photography/Art FESTIVAL RULES: New York Book Festival submissions cannot be returned. Each entry must contain the official entry form, including your e-mail address and contact telephone number. All shipping and handling costs must be borne by entrants. NOTIFICATION AND DEADLINES: We will notify each entry of the receipt of their package via e-mail and will announce the winning entries on this web site shortly after the entry deadline. Regular registration deadline submissions in each category must be postmarked by the close of business on May 25 , 2008. Winners in each category will be notified by e-mail. Please note that judges read and consider submissions on an ongoing basis, comparing early entries with later submissions. TO ENTER: Click on the "ENTER THE COMPETITION" link at newyorkbookfestival.com and follow the directions to get an entry form. Forms may also be faxed/e-mailed to you by calling our office at 323-665-8080 or e-mailing us at NewYorkBookFest@aol.com. You may also register over the phone with a credit card. Applications must be accompanied by a non-refundable entry fee via check, money order, credit card payment or PayPal online payment of $50 in U.S. dollars for each submission. Multiple submissions are permitted but each entry must be accompanied by a separate form and entry fee. Entry fee checks/money orders should be made payable to JM Northern Media LLC. We’re sorry, but entries must be mailed and cannot be delivered in person or by messenger services to the JM Northern Media offices. Entry packages should include one copy of the book; any relevant marketing material; a copy of your official entry form; and the entry fee or receipt from online payment. Entries should be mailed to: JM Northern Media LLC 7095 Hollywood Blvd. Suite 864 Hollywood, CA 90028 AWARDS: Winners of the 2008 New York Book Festival will be honored at a gala ceremony held the night before our annual day festival in Central Park. You do not need to be present to accept your award or accompanying prizes. New York Book Festival winners in each category will be admitted free to the awards ceremony. The New York Book Festival selection committee reserves the right to determine the category eligibility of any project. VENDORS AND MUSICIANS: If you would like to be a part of our day festival in Central Park, please e-mail us at NewYorkBookFest@aol.com for an application. The New York Book Festival is produced by JM Northern Media LLC, producers of the Hollywood Book Festival, DIY Convention, London Book Festival and DIY Book Festival, and is sponsored by The Hollywood Creative Directory, eDivvy, Westside Websites and Shopanista. Tags: New York Book Festival

Automatic Social Bookmarking

Diana Holquist on Virtual Book Tour at Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion

We have a very special guest today at Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion! Welcome Diana Holquist, author of SEXIEST MAN ALIVE (Warner Books, Oct. '07). Diana is here with us today to tell us how she pumps up her own online book promotion! Welcome to Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion, Diana! Can we begin by having you tell us what SEXIEST MAN ALIVE is about and why you wrote it? SEXIEST MAN ALIVE is about the shyest woman alive who comes to believe a gypsy prophecy that her soulmate is People magazine’s sexiest man alive. SEXIEST MAN ALIVE is a romantic comedy with a paranormal twist. Why did you choose this genre to write? Did you choose it or did it choose you? I love funny, fun, fast books. That’s what I like to read and so that’s what I write. I threw in the paranormal twist—the Gypsy psychic—as a comic villain in my first book, Make Me a Match. All through that book, you’re not sure if she really is a psychic or just a con-woman. In SEXIEST MAN ALIVE, she’s back. And again, we wonder if she’s for real…. In regards to promotion, what have you been doing to promote your book online? Listening to you, Dorothy. Really, I mean that. You’ve taught me so much about promoting online. I have two blogs (gypsypsychic.blogspot.com and blogaboutromance.blogspot.com). I also blog at Grandcentralcafe.blogspot.com with a bunch of other Grand Central Publishing authors. I have a website, that I optimized a-la-Dorothy with lots of keywords. Plus, I have a few book trailer videos and a MySpace page. Of all the promotional items (bookmarks, press kits, etc.) you have used to promote your book, which one was used most effectively? I don’t have a press kit and my bookmarks are curling from mis-use in my closet. I did all that stuff for my first book, Make Me a Match and none of it for Sexiest Man Alive. I’ll come back and let you know if I made a huge mistake. 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? Well, for e-book authors, it’s a whole new market, which is great. For me, the Internet makes me work harder. It was so much easier being clueless for my first book. Now, I see what other authors are doing and how they’re doing it and I know that I need to get out and do all that stuff, too. But it takes time. A lot of time. And that’s all time that’s taken away from actually writing. 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 and what would you say? I’d shout, “Hey, it’s the SEXIEST MAN ALIVE and he’s only wearing a towel!” . If you could trade places with any author just for a day, who would it be and why? Oh, man. Today, it would be Julia Glass because I’m reading Three Junes and it’s just gorgeous. Last week, it would be Philip Roth, since that’s who I was reading then. Lastly, how do you determine your book's success? Money. Just kidding. Sort of. Okay, well, I need a new roof, you know? But truly, if I can just keep getting contracts and keep writing, that’s success. That’s more than I ever hoped for. It’s an amazing privilege to have people read my writing. Thank you for coming, Diana! Can you tell us where everyone can pick up a copy of SEXIEST MAN ALIVE? Thanks so much for having me, Dorothy. I can’t ever thank you enough for teaching me about online promotion. I send everyone who asks me how to promote their writing to your blogs and sites. As for buying SEXIEST MAN ALIVE, it should be in most stores. I was told that it made it into Wal-Mart, which is remarkable. You can also get it online at amazon.com. Watch the trailer! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0bFYWrPC4c Tags: Pump Up Your Book Promotion, virtual book tour, online book promotion, Diana Holquist, Sexiest Man Alive, romantic comedy novel

Automatic Social Bookmarking

Intuitive Cookbook Author Dyan Garris Coming to TWL Author Talks

Dyan Garris, best known for her culinary talents and love for music is coming to TWL Author Talks on Monday, November 12! Dyan is touring the blogosphere in November on a virtual book tour for Pump Up Your Book Promotion and I thought it would be really nice to have her come in and talk to us at TWL Author Talks! The book on tour is called VOICE OF THE ANGELS COOKBOOK - TALK TO YOUR FOOD: INTUITIVE COOKING (Journeymakers, Inc., Aug. '07). "The concept of this cookbook," says Dyan, "is to raise the culinary experience to a more spiritual level. I want readers to feel what they cook and, on some level, communicate with their food. Cooking should be fun and inventive, not intimidating, with the end result being a creative exchange rather than a mundane task." Here's a little more you might like to know about Dyan: For many years, Dyan Garris has been counseling clients in order to help them positively move forward in their lives. She is clairvoyant, clairsentient, and clairaudient. In addition, Dyan is also what is known as a voice recognition psychic and trance channel. This means that she can help her clients via phone, which is how she conducted her readings throughout her career. Growing up in Illinois, Dyan became aware of her clairvoyance, and other gifts, at a very young age. She spent years learning how to appropriately use these gifts for good and to help others. In 2005 she created a CD series of music and meditation for self-healing, relaxation, chakra balancing, and vibrational attunement. Her interest in music began as a child. A blind piano teacher taught her to “feel” music and “see” through different eyes and influenced her at a young age. Dyan continued her music studies with the violin. Through the violin, she learned how easily music vibrates throughout the body and, hence, all of the chakras. This was her first lesson of how the power of music and sound could be used for healing. In the early 1990s, Dyan launched a jewelry business custom designing and manufacturing Austrian crystal earrings and healing bolos. Even in this work, she continued to use her special gifts for her client’s benefits. The healing bolos were custom made with stones such as crystal, onyx, hematite, jade and rose quartz. Each came with a channeled poem specifically for the person who commissioned the item. The bolos were designed to be worn over the heart chakra as a form of healing, as well as protection. She eventually re-focused her life on home, family, spiritual counseling, and teaching meditation and energy classes. Music was incorporated in her classes as a method of sound healing as well as an effective method for opening and balancing the chakras. In 2005, while sitting at the piano, she heard specific songs and titles coming from her psychic connections. Writing them down as fast as she could, the result was A Healing Journey – The Voice of the Angels CD. This is the first in the series designed for self-healing and vibrational attunement of the mind, body and spirit. There are six CDs in the series. A new release, titled, “Release,” will be available September 24th and is available at www.voiceoftheangels.com/store/12/6 or http://www.cdbaby.com/dyangarris6. She is the author and developer of Voice of the Angels – A Healing Journey Spiritual Cards. These are a 30 card deck of Angel Cards based upon scenes from A Healing Journey-Guided Fantasy, which is the guided meditation found on the last track of A Healing Journey-The Voice of the Angels CD. Each card has its own channeled message in verse from the Angels. Her new book, Voice of the Angels Cookbook – Talk to Your Food! – Intuitive Cooking is now available at the author’s website and http://www.amazon.com/. This is an adventure in opening the creative centers and communicating with your food so that it can transform from raw ingredients into what truly nourishes you on every level. The book includes twelve food-related channeled messages and several “Intuitively Speaking” paragraphs, which explain how to prepare the recipe using one’s own unique creativity. For more information, please visit http://www.voiceoftheangels.com/ or http://www.newagecd.com/. If you would like to join TWL Author Talks in time for Dyan's special appearance on Monday, Nov. 12, click here! Tags: Dyan Garris, Voice of the Angels Cookbook, intuitive cooking

Automatic Social Bookmarking

Does Controversy Sell Books?

Does controversy sell books? I don’t know, but we’re about to find out. Two new clients who just signed up at Pump Up Your Book Promotion are banking on it and I, as representative for virtual book tours for both of them, am about to see just what we can do to greatly increase their already staggering rankings at Amazon. Talk about a challenge! Kathleen Willey, author of the controversial new book that was released on Nov. 9 whose title, TARGET: CAUGHT IN THE CROSSHAIRS OF BILL AND HILLARY CLINTON (World Ahead Media), is enough to draw attention just in the name itself, tours in January ’08. Kathleen is a wife, mother and Democratic political activist. In 1993, while she was working as a White House volunteer, President Clinton sexually assaulted her in the Oval Office. On the same day, her husband of 23 years committed suicide. Four years later, she was drawn into the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit and subsequently, the Monica Lewinsky scandal, when she was forced to testify against Bill Clinton. Despite being targeted by the Clintons for daring to tell the truth and becoming the focus of media smear campaigns, terror tactics, and witness intimation, Ms. Willey has pursued a successful career in real estate, and is a popular commentator on political affairs. Kathleen’s stats at Amazon are enough to knock you off your feet. As of today, November 8, 2007, she’s rocking at #45 and dropping each time I check. Interesting to see as we get closer to the election how her controversial book will continue to sell. Another author who isn’t letting controversy bother her is Holly Fretwell, author of THE SKY’S NOT FALLING: WHY IT’S OK TO CHILL ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING (Kid’s Ahead Publishing, Sept. ’07). We don't have to wait as long for this tour as she goes out next month! Holly Fretwell is a natural resources policy expert, an adjunct professor at Montana State University, and is a research fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center. This woman knows her stuff. So, why wouldn’t she be qualified to tell us that we shouldn’t be worrying about global warming? Seems there are some who would feel differently and, thus, the controversy continues. So, will controversy sell books? Holly’s stats at Amazon as of today are at 16,285. Very, very impressive also. I believe controversy does indeed sell books. Get the world up in arms over the nature of your book and you, my dear, just might have a bestseller on your hands. Be sure to check out http://www.virtualbooktoursforauthors.blogspot.com/ for Kathleen’s and Holly’s tour schedules coming up soon. These tours will be rocking! Tag: Book Marketing Buzz, virtual book tour, does controversy sell books, Kathleen Willey, Holly Fretwell, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Monica Lewinsky, global warming

Automatic Social Bookmarking

An Interview with Paranormal Romantic Suspense Author Maureen Fisher

We have a very special guest today at Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion! Welcome Maureen Fisher, author of the paranormal romance supsense, THE JAGUAR LEGACY (Lachesis Publishing, March, 2007). Maureen is here with us today to tell us how she pumps up her own online book promotion! Plus, she's on virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion so this is a special treat to have her with us today. Welcome to Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion, Maureen! Thank you. I’m excited to be here. Can we begin by having you tell us what THE JAGUAR LEGACY is about and why you wrote it? First, I’ll tell you why I wrote what I wrote. When I first decided to write a book, I enrolled in a 5-day seminar entitled How to Write a Novel. At the end of day-one, our teacher gave us the following homework: “Write the cover copy for your book.” Eeeek! What book???? Long after midnight, when my panic finally subsided, the following premise emerged: Start with one archaeological dig -- a lost Olmec city in the jungles of Mexico -- where occult energies trigger past life flashbacks; add one smart-mouthed reporter on a quest for a juicy exposé to salvage her career; combine with one hunky archaeologist who detests the press; throw in a vengeful ex-wife and a mysterious shaman. Stir well until mixed and stand back to enjoy the fireworks. It seemed only right to incorporate my belief in reincarnation and the notion of both karmic and genetic memory in my first book. Triggered by the energy of the archaeological dig, my heroine makes the unnerving discovery that in her past life, she was an Olmec High Priestess, trained to kill at an early age, and thirsty for power. THE JAGUAR LEGACY is a story of romance and humor, peril and suspense, betrayal and trust, healing and absolution. THE JAGUAR LEGACY is a paranormal romantic suspense. Why did you choose this genre to write? Did you choose it or did it choose you? Although The Jaguar Legacy is billed as a paranormal romantic suspense, I believe that ‘mystical romantic adventure’ would probably be a more accurate description. One critiquer even called it a ‘time travel’ because during my heroine’s vivid flashbacks to a previous lifetime, she re-experiences her past life as an Olmec High Priestess in real time. In the beginning, I didn’t make a conscious decision to write a paranormal romantic suspense. In fact, when I first started my novel writing course, I had no idea what genre I wanted to tackle. Our teacher told us to write what we enjoyed reading. I knew that I loved reading romance, any type of romance, particularly romantic suspense by masters of the craft such as Nora Roberts and Jayne Ann Krentz, so a romantic suspense was inevitable. I also loved spooky stories involving the occult and psychological drama, devouring gothic thrillers and ghost stories written by Barbara Michaels, a.k.a. Elizabeth Peters, the entire Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, also Lady of Hay, a classic time travel written by Barbara Erskine. In regards to promotion, what have you been doing to promote your book online? You mean in addition to this Virtual Book Tour (a fabulous experience, I might add)? Well, judicious use of the Internet can be a great tool, and it is free. The danger is that the Internet can also become a time drain when used unwisely. For online promotion, I have a site at MySpace, my own website at www.BooksByMaureen.com, and a blog at www.RomanceReadersBlog.com. In addition, I am a member of several writers’ chat loops, I have conducted several online interviews, and have paid for an online service to promote my book to book clubs across the country (although I’m still waiting to hear back about this one). I’ve also got a line on a critiquer for RT who sells a mailing list (some email, some snail mail) for book clubs and book stores for direct promotion. Of all the promotional items (bookmarks, press kits, etc…) you have used to promote your book, which one was used most effectively? That’s a tough question to answer. I have business cards, book marks, posters, flyers, and a media kit, and they all have a specific use. The flyers may be the most effective from my point of view. They certainly give me a degree of comfort in situations where I am the most uncomfortable -- book signings. Initially, I designed the flyers as hand-outs because I wanted a good excuse to approach potential buyers -- a prop, so to speak. Armed with a flyer, I could sidle up to a browsing customer, stuff the folded sheet of paper into her hand, and suggest that if she liked what she read, to come on over to my table where I was signing copies. Contact made, my survival ensured, I could flee. Some of the customers actually purchased a copy based on my flyer. I like my press kit as well (of course, it contains a flyer). A press kit it is a professional package to hand out to editors, agents, book sellers, etc. I think it brands me as an author who is serious about her career. 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 certainly influenced my journey in more ways than seemed possible. I don’t know how authors survived before the web existed. Without it, I am certain I would never have found the resources and information I needed to sell my book. Here is a list of some of benefits I received from using the Internet: • Easy exchange of documents with my critique group helps polish my work; • Contests (an amazing way to get detailed feedback, and a couple of wins make for credible writing credentials): locate contests, find submission guidelines; download application form, even issue online payment; • Online workshops on craft and subject matter improve my skills (the most recent workshop I took was a Private Investigator workshop); • Locating editors and agents ensures that I target the correct person, learn their preferences for query or submission contents, and find their submission guidelines. Some even post sample query letters; • Many editors and agents accept online query letters; more and more, some even accept online partials and full manuscripts; • Free networking: Chat loops and networking sites like MySpace get my name out there, provide answers to questions, offer moral support, and I get to meet some wonderful and supportive people; • Online promotion: the Virtual Book Tour I am currently participating in is a perfect example; • Book reviews: The Internet helps locate review sites, transmit a PDF version of the book (some reviewers accept these), view online review postings (publicity). 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 and what would you say? Since this is all hypothetical, I would lose twenty (okay, thirty) pounds, pour myself into a skin-tight jaguar outfit with tummy-taming panels and support in all the right places -- that is, I would get dressed before I found myself in the middle of Manhattan -- and drape myself around one really, REALLY hot male model, tall, with lots of manly chest hair, and dressed like my Jaguar Legacy hero, a hunky archaeologist. Think Harrison Ford as a young Indiana Jones. When the thousands of women crowding the Manhattan thoroughfares swarmed around us, okay, swarmed around my hunky male model, I would flash my book in front of them, purr, and say, “If you’re interested in reading a Raiders of the Lost Ark with hot sex, buy my sizzling new romance, THE JAGUAR LEGACY.” If you could trade places with any author just for a day, who would it be and why? I would love to trade places for a day with Nora Roberts a.k.a. J. D. Robb. As far as I know, Nora is the most prolific and successful romance author in the world, juggling hundreds of balls in the air at the same time with seeming ease and grace. She meets deadlines and remains gracious, all the while dealing with normal family life. I would love to find out how to multi-task the way she does and still retain her sanity. I would also like to do a mind dump of all her amazing book ideas -- not that I would use them, but they would stimulate my own. Lastly, how do you determine your book’s success? Nothing can beat my sense of accomplishment I get every time someone tells me that they couldn’t put my book down, or that they can’t wait to read my next book, or that they loved my characters so much they hated to see THE JAGUAR LEGACY end. By the same token, I wouldn’t say, “No,” to huge royalty checks, a six-month stint on the New York Times best seller list, and an interview on Oprah. Thank you for coming, Maureen! Can you tell us where everyone can pick up a copy of THE JAGUAR LEGACY? My pleasure. I have links to purchase my book on my website at www.BooksByMaureen.com where you can read the first chapter. THE JAGUAR LEGACY is also available in selected Borders outlets and online at www.Amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, www.Borders.com, and in e-book format at http://www.fictionwise.com/. Maureen is on a virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion and is giving away a free copy of her book THE JAGUAR LEGACY to one lucky person who leaves a comment. Don't miss out on this opportunity! Leave a comment below and if you would like to see where else Maureen will be so you can leave comments on all her stops, click here! Winners will be announced at http://www.virtualbooktoursforauthors.blogspot.com/ on Nov. 30! Tags: author interview, author promotions, virtual book tour, online book promotion, paranormal romantic suspense, Maureen Fisher, The Jaguar Legacy

Automatic Social Bookmarking

An Interview with Organized Crime Author Dennis N. Griffin

We have a very special guest today at Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion! Welcome Dennis N. Griffin, author of the true organized crime novel, CULLOTTA: THE LIFE OF A CHICAGO CRIMINAL, LAS VEGAS MOBSTER, AND GOVERNMENT WITNESS (Huntington Press, July ’07). Dennis is here with us today to tell us how he pumps up his own online book promotion! Welcome to Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion, Dennis! Can we begin by having you tell us what your book, CULLOTTA, is about and why you wrote it? CULLOTTA is the biography of Frank Cullotta, a former master thief, arsonist, mob tough guy and killer. The book explains in graphic detail his life as a criminal on the streets of Chicago, his days running a crew of thieves and murderers in Las Vegas, and life in the federal Witness Protection Program. As an organized crime buff, it was a story I felt compelled to write. CULLOTTA is an true crime novel. Why did you choose this genre to write? Did you choose it or did it choose you? I think CULLOTTA may have chosen me in some respects. The timing of events was uncanny, and seemed to be part of some master plan that put Frank Cullotta and me together. It happened this way. I first became aware of Frank Cullotta through my second non-fiction book, The Battle for Las Vegas – The Law vs. the Mob (Huntington Press, July 2006). In that book I told the story of Chicago Outfit enforcer Tony Spilotro’s Las Vegas reign. This is the era dramatized in the hit 1995 movie Casino, in which actor Joe Pesci plays a character based on Spilotro. That book was told primarily from the side of law enforcement. So when I had the opportunity to meet Frank Cullotta — the last living and available member of Spilotro’s crew — I was enthused about the possibility of getting a look at that same time period from the perspective of the bad guys. Frank had already been thinking about doing a book, making the timing perfect. During my initial meeting with Frank, he committed to discussing his life of crime and his stint in Witness Protection. He also agreed to talk about his role as an adviser to Casino, in which he appeared in several scenes as a hit man. Frank promised to talk candidly about the myriad crimes he’d been involved in for which he’d received immunity or the statute of limitations had long since run. They included murder. After ironing out the details we sealed our arrangement with a handshake. Frank provided me with nearly 400 pages of notes about his life and crimes. I took my treasure trove home and started to read. After finishing the first read, I was convinced that Frank’s story was one that had to be told. In regards to promotion, what have you been doing to promote your book online? I have been touting the book on my AuthorsDen site and through my blog on WordPress. I’ve also posted excerpts on various writers’ message boards, MySpace and other writing-related sites. Of all the promotional items (bookmarks, press kits, etc…) you have used to promote your book, which one was used most effectively? I’ve printed out and used the short opening chapter of the book — Murder in Las Vegas — as an attention-getter. It describes the scene of a 1979 murder Frank committed, and immediately captures the interest of any true or organized crime reader. 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? There is no doubt in my mind that if used intelligently, the Internet can be one of an author’s best friends. It offers tremendous opportunities for learning the writing business, networking, marketing and promotion. And online bookstores such as Amazon.com allow readers to purchase books from the comfort of their own home. Quite frankly, if not for the Internet, I probably would have given up my writing career several books ago. And I can’t imagine what it would have been like trying to do the research necessary for my non-fictions without the online resources. I find it incredible that I meet aspiring authors today, who tell me they don’t have a computer at all or don’t have Internet service. I realize that’s a personal decision, but I don’t see how they can reach their maximum potential without it. 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 and what would you say? I think I’d try the old-time newsboy approach. I’d wave a copy of CULLOTTA and yell, “Read all about it. Mob hit man turns government witness. Read all about it right here.” If you could trade places with any author just for a day, who would it be and why? I’d like to be in Nick Pileggi's shoes for a day. I’m sure that while writing his books and screenplays, he’s developed a number of organized crime sources. I’d like to be able to talk with them to learn what they know. Not for a book, but to satisfy my own curiosity. Lastly, how do you determine your book’s success? I suppose the logical answer would be to judge success by the number of books sold or the size of my royalty checks. From a business perspective, those things are important to me for sure. But personally, I want to know that I produced a good product. That after the money is in the cash register and the sales figures have been tallied, the readers are satisfied with what they bought. And from the reviews posted on Amazon and the e-mails I’ve received, they are. I feel very good about that. Thank you for coming, Dennis! Can you tell us where everyone can pick up a copy of CULLOTTA? I have links to purchase any of my books on my AuthorsDen site. And all my books are available on Amazon.com and many other online outlets. Tags: author interview, author promotions, virtual book tour, online book promotion, crime fiction author, Dennis N. Griffin, Las Vegas, mobster, organized crime, Tony Spilottro, Cullotta

Automatic Social Bookmarking

Interview with Intuitive Cooking Cookbook Author Dyan Garris

We have a very special guest today at Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion! Welcome Dyan Garris, author of the intuitive cooking cookbook, VOICE OF THE ANGELS COOKBOOK. Dyan is here with us today to tell us how she pumps up her own online book promotion! Not only that, Dyan is on a virtual book tour and we get to be her third stop! And, wait, there's more...leave a comment below and guess what? You could win a free copy of her book! Is that cool or what? Let me tell you something, too. I have her cookbook. O.M.G. And the pictures...O.M.G. Well, let's get to know this talented cook and not only that, find out how she promotes her books so that you might pick up a couple of helpful hints in that area. Okay, are you ready? I give you the talented and beautiful, Ms. Dyan Garris!!!! Welcome to Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion, Dyan! Can we begin by having you tell us what your book is about? Hello Dorothy. Thank you for having me. I’m excited to be here. This is not just an ordinary cookbook. The book comes with a warning: This is real food! And it is. The book is about taking raw ingredients, not necessarily lettuce and tofu either, and transforming them into something that truly nourishes you on every level. It’s about opening your creative centers and having fun. Talk to your food. It’s about listening to your inner voice about what your physical body wants to be fed and then making it in a loving and delicious way. VOICE OF THE ANGELS COOKBOOK is about intuitive cooking. Why did you choose this subject to write about? I’m a psychic, clairvoyant, clairaudient, and clairsentient. I could say I was ordered by Divine guidance to write the book and that would be true. It was a natural segue. However, one of the main reasons I wrote it was because when my mother was dying she tried desperately to write all her recipes down and make them into a cookbook for her family. She mostly finished it, but I think it was not in the complete way that she really wanted to do it. What I wanted to with my own cookbook was to do it in a way that I know she would have done her own if she had had the time, energy, and opportunity to do so. I dedicated my book to her and that’s why. It’s a loving tribute to her. The intuitive part of the book is because it’s the way I live my entire life - by intuition. I talk to my food. I talk to everything. I listen to guidance and take it seriously. I’ve fed a lot of people in my lifetime – with the vibration of love - and they always ask, “How do you do that?” When I thought about it, the answer is, “I talk to it.” And I really do. The cooking interest that I’ve always had is a form of vibrational attunement, which is the foundation of my work in music, meditation, energy work, writing, etc. It’s like composing a song. You take single notes (ingredients) and make them into a melody. You take the melody and add different layers until it feels right. Then you have a feast. Then you have something that vibrates and resonates with your whole being, not just your stomach or taste buds. So you end up feeding not only the body but the mind and spirit as well. Cooking should be fun and creative, not a mundane or intimidating task. Everyone’s body is different and what feels right for one person to eat isn’t necessarily so for another person. Some are vegans, some are not. A particular way of eating might be healthy for one person and not for another. You should eat what your body tells you it wants. And if you make it yourself, you know exactly what is in there. I’ve also included several “intuitively speaking paragraphs,” which suggest easy or different ways to make the recipe by using your own unique intuition, and twelve food-related channeled messages, such as “Layers,” “The Party,” “Ode to Popcorn.” So, it’s entertaining and thought provoking too. And I don’t just leave you high and dry trying to intuit something out of thin air and scratching your head halfway through the recipe. The book has definite recipes. The intuitive part comes in where you say to yourself, for example, I don’t eat meat, what can I substitute here? Or you might think to yourself that a particular recipe would taste better to you if you used a different type of cheese, or would be easier if you rolled it up, sliced it, and baked it on a cookie sheet instead of baking it in a 13 x 9 inch pan. I’ve tried to leave the door open for endless possibilities. One has only to think it in order to be on the path to creating it. I don’t believe in limitations. So, you can follow the recipe exactly as it and/or make it your own in the process. I’m a facilitator and a spiritual teacher, so I’ve tried to facilitate the opening of the creative centers of the person using the book and teach something on a deeper level as well. You don’t have to make it my way. Make it your own way. And then enjoy what you’ve created. In regard to promotion, what have you been doing to promote your book online? You can get an amazing amount of exposure online. The biggest, most exciting thing I’ve done so far is sign up for the virtual book tour. I just finished the book at the end of August and tuning into my psychic guidance I was informed I needed PR. So I did my homework. I contacted several PR firms. One person seemed completely dumfounded that I talk to my food. He couldn’t get off the phone fast enough and hung up with a resounding “click” in my ear. Others were “too busy.” “You what? What do you mean you talk to your food?!” Another wanted thousands of dollars for radio promotion. Another wanted a ridiculous sum of money per week for book promotion, also mostly AM talk radio. I think radio is a wonderful adjunct but it shouldn’t be the whole promotion. And I don’t need to pay anyone a crazy amount of money to get me on radio. It’s something one can do themselves. I already have a blog for my main site http://www.voiceoftheangels.com/, but I started another one specifically for the book promotion. I sent out two press releases through PRNewswire. One was a feature targeted to specifically to food industry groups. The other was a regular press release. Of all the promotional items (bookmarks, press kits, etc…) you have used to promote your book, which one was used most effectively? The press kit is an important part of any promotion. I just revamped mine as it was getting too confusing with all of the other books and products I’ve recently added to my line. A one page electronic press kit is also a good tool to have. You can post that on your website and the press can pick it up. I’ve got 7 websites, 2 blogs, 2 myspace pages, www.voiceoftheangels.com, www.newagecd.com, www.dyangarris.com. In an promotion exposure is key and all of the promotional items should work together. 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? Absolutely! There are no limitations and there are no dreaded rejection letters that every writer has a stack of. Everyone has an opportunity to have a voice. Publishing used to be and still probably is somewhat elitist in nature, so the Internet has opened up a whole new vista for everyone. When I first developed the Voice of the Angels – A Healing Journey Spiritual Cards in 1993, I started shopping them around to publishers because that was the only viable pathway. Nothing was on the market that was even remotely similar to these cards yet. They are divination cards with angelic channeled messages and what is also different about them is that they have a companion CD of music and meditation. The scenes from the cards are all scenes and imagery from the guided fantasy/meditation. It’s a completely integrated healing journey. You can read a review at http://www.voiceoftheangels.com/page/32. The cards were not computer generated – I drew them - and I made some of them in 3D with real Swarovski® crystals and other elements and then had them photographed. The vibration and energy of them is palatable and very different from highly stylized cards. At the time no mainstream publisher wanted to touch this project. Decks of cards were stiill very expensive to produce. I shopped it around further to some of the smaller publishing houses to no avail. A few months later the first deck of angel cards with channeled messages came out. And that was fine because competition makes things interesting and spurs one on to greater heights. At the time I thought my journey was going to be to produce many different types of angel divination cards. This is so much better and so much more exciting! I still keep the rejection letters to remind me there are no limitations, there is a reason for everything, and most importantly there is a Divine plan that’s probably better than anything I could ever come up with. Yes, the Internet and the current technology has made publishing an entirely different story in every way. 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 and what would you say? I’m a little nutty, so I would probably put on some angel wings and start waving a spatula around…“Free samples”….”Angel bites…” If money was no object, how would you promote your book? I would do exactly what I’m doing. Right now I think the virtual book tour gives the most mileage for the investment dollar. And it is perpetual as well. I would add in angel workshops and teaching people how to tune in to their intuition more. I used to teach classes on that and chakra balancing. So I think it would be fun to do again. And also I would add touring, in terms of doing live meditations and teaching people how to meditate more effectively. That is actually next on my list. One can’t hear or talk to their food totally if they can’t quiet the chatter of the conscious mind. Lastly, how do you determine your book’s success? Here is the best way I can describe it and this is one of the twelve channeled messages in the cookbook: “The Measure of Success” © 2007 Dyan Garris We are taught from a very young age to measure everything. Someone handed us an invisible yardstick and we've carried it around for years measuring and measuring. We measure our height and weight and waistlines. We measure our growth and our progress with someone else's idea of milestones. We measure our food and our food ingredients because we are afraid to use our intuition. Some are even afraid of nourishment. We measure our IQs. We measure our bank accounts. We measure ourselves against others. For years the size of one's car was an accepted measure of one's supposed success. Lately, we use the quantity of the things that we have as a measure of success. We must be ok if we have three cars in the garage, two or three houses, 401(k)s, stock options, and whatever else passes as someone's illusion of how success is supposed to show up. When did we become pieces of paper, inches, centimeters, teaspoons and 1/4 cups? When we expect and desire "success" to return to us as pieces of paper, this is what we are manifesting and eventually, if we put enough energy on it, it will return to us that way. Pieces of paper in and of themselves are completely worthless. It is the energy we put behind them that gives them the power they have today. It is an illusion. It is the under-"lying" belief systems that shape perception. Money is simply energy. Our fair exchange of energy could just as easily be beads, corn, guns or butter. It doesn't matter. It is energy and thoughts about such things that fuel the power of matter. If we insist upon "success" showing up and returning to us as money or things, we then limit the universe's ability to bring us what we need in other ways. We limit ourselves to our version of the story. In our attempts to be so big, have we really become so small? The true measure of a man is not found in his wallet but in his heart. The only thing that is real is love. It's what everyone goes out of here saying, thinking about and remembering. Everything else is an illusion. So, how successful are you? Copyright 2007 Dyan Garris is the author of Voice of the Angels-A Healing Journey Spiritual Cards, Voice of the Angels-Talk To Your Food! Intuitive Cooking, and more. Visit her website at www.voiceoftheangels.com and www.newagecd.com or www.dyangarris.com for New Age music CDs, free angel card readings, Daily Channeled Message, free stress release articles, and more. Thank you for coming, Dyan! Can you tell us where everyone can pick up a copy of VOICE OF THE ANGELS COOKBOOK? Thank you for having me, Dorothy. I appreciate it. The book is available at www.voiceoftheangels.com/page/65. Tags: author interview, online book promotion, virtual book tour, Dyan Garris, Voice of the Angels Cookbook, intuitive cooking, recipes for entertaining, angel cookbook, Greek cooking

Automatic Social Bookmarking

Pump Up Your Book Promotion November Authors on Tour - Day One - FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY

Virtual book tours with Pump Up Your Book Promotion continues! All authors on tour in November will be giving away FREE copies of their books to a few lucky people who comment on their blog stops. Winners will be announced at http://www.virtualbooktoursforauthors.blogspot.com/ on November 30! Authors on tour Thursday, November 1 are: Darrell Bain, author of the science fiction novel, SAVAGE SURVIVAL (Twilight Times Books, Sept. '07), will be stopping off at Mocha Memoirs! Maureen Fisher, author of the paranormal romantic suspense novel, THE JAGUAR LEGACY (Lachesis Publishing, March '07) will be stopping off at Romance Readers Blog! Dyan Garris, author of the intuitive cookbook, VOICE OF THE ANGELS COOKBOOK (Journeymakers, Inc., Aug. '07) will be stopping off at You Don't Know Jack! Dennis N. Griffin, author of the nonfiction true crime novel, CULLOTTA (Huntingpress Press, July '07) will be stopping off at Beyond the Books! Diana Holquist, author of the romantic comedy, SEXIEST MAN ALIVE (Warner Books, Oct. '07) will be stopping off at Caridad Pineiro! Sheila Roberts, author of the women's fiction novel, ON STRIKE FOR CHRISTMAS (St. Martin's Press, Nov. '07) will be stopping off at Kathy Holmes' Fiction with Attitude! Michael Simon, author of the crime thriller, THE LAST JEW STANDING (Viking, Aug. 2007) will be stopping off at Jewish Literary Review! All authors will be giving away free copies of their books to a few lucky readers who comment on their blog stops. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to win free books! Tags: Pump Up Your Book Promotion, virtual book tour, author interview, author promotion, online book promotion, Dennis N. Griffin, Michael Simon, Maureen Fisher, Sheila Roberts, Dyan Garris, Darrell Bain, Marilyn Celeste Morris, Diana Holquist

Automatic Social Bookmarking