VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR: Interview with Paul Kiritsis, Author of HERMETICA

The son of Greek immigrants, Paul Kiritsis was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1979. He has completed degrees in both the behavioral sciences and professional writing and currently works for drug safety services in the inner city region. His keen interest in mythology and literature began in childhood and later sprung into a full-fledged investigation into folklore and poetics. Many of his poems have appeared in periodic anthologies. He is the author of the books Origin: Poems from the Crack of Dawn (2006) and Hermetica: Myths, Legends, Poems (2007), the latter having won a literary award very recently. The release of his next book, a memoir of his many travels through Greece, is tentatively scheduled for late 2008. He regards travel, reading and fitness as his greatest passions.

You can visit his website at www.paulkiritsis.com.

Welcome to Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion, Paul. Can we begin by having you tell us what Hermetica is about and why you wrote it?

Hermetica: Myths, Legends, Poems (2007) is a literary collection comprised of both poetry and prose. The entire work hones in on the school of Neoplatonic thought and pagan ideas that are still prevalent in our society today; they just exist under modern guises. The poetry section is divided into seven subjects deemed essential learning by the ancients of late antiquity – alchemy; astrology; mythology; erotica; philosophy and music. The seven stories which follow are written in a style which is no longer employed today called verse drama. Plato, the father of Western thought, used this style to communicate many of his ideas concerning the politics, law and religion of his time. Some stories serve to explicate and extend Egyptian mythology while others are heavily steeped in hermetics and esoteric knowledge. I wrote this book as a testament for my love of world mythology (specifically Greek and Egyptian) and philosophy. I also wanted to honor an era which has long since passed but still echoes morals and life lessons that are as relevant today as they were thousands of years ago.

Hermetica is a literary collection. Why did you choose this genre to write? Did you choose it or did it choose you?

Well it’s not really a genre that’s going compete with pop fiction and generate a commotion in the marketplace because it caters only to a niche audience; academics and the educated elite who are interested in mythology. So I guess it’s probably safe to say that I didn’t choose it; it chose me! I’ve had a keen interested in the fields of mythology and Western alchemy for quite some time and Hermetica: Myths, Legends and Poems is the culmination or pinnacle of that interest.

In regards to promotion, what have you been doing to promote your book online?

I haven’t done as much as I would have liked that’s for sure. I’m a busy man! Most of what I’ve done has revolved around online interviews and features with Readerviews.com and RebeccasReads.com. Now I’m on a one month blog tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion which I hope will get the hits up on my website. I’ll get the chance to do much more online and offline promotion in the lead up to my holidays in November since I’ll have significant time off work. Marketing is a world unto itself.

Of all the promotional items (bookmarks, press kits, etc…) you have used to promote your book, which one was used most effectively?

Probably the press kits. I must have printed and distributed over two hundred around the metropolitan Melbourne libraries and bookshops. I’m not really too keen on bookmarks and business cards. They’re a waste of money to invest in because most people just throw them out. That money is better invested elsewhere.

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?

Certainly, yes. I feel that a new portal in the publishing industry has unravelled. Now there are print-on-demand publishing companies willing to publish almost anything. (Providing of course it’s not discriminatory, defamatory or pornographic in nature) There are online magazines, newspapers and journals that publish the work of aspiring young writers; e-books are also a cheap option for those low on funds. All sorts of opportunities abound really.

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?

Umm…for real? Probably strip off completely and hold the book between my legs and tell passer-bys that if they want a sneak preview of what’s inside they’ll have to make me laugh. To be frank with you I’ve been to Manhattan and I think you’d have to do something outrageous to get anyone’s attention there. Everybody seems to be on autopilot.

If you could trade places with any author just for a day, who would it be and why?

I’d switch places with Dean Koontz, my childhood idol. Just so I can see how much sweat goes into producing one of his fine masterpieces. His divinely crafted tales of horror and suspense took me on many, many journeys and for that I am eternally grateful. I really wouldn’t know how to thank him or what to say if I ever got to meet him.

Lastly, how do you determine your book’s success?

Personally, I determine success through positive responses from those that have actually read the work. This includes professional reviewers from magazines and newspapers. Literary awards obviously enhance a title’s credibility and add profusely to the success factor. In the end though, a book can only be judged by those who have actually read it.

Thank you for coming, Paul! Can you tell us where everyone can pick up a copy of Hermetica?

Hermetica can be ordered from either the print on demand publisher iUniverse direct, Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com or from my personal website at www.paulkiritsis.com.

Thanks for having me!

Virtual Book Tour: Education Expert Hal W. Lanse Visits If Books Could Talk and The Writer's Life!

Hal W. Lanse, Ph.D., author of the nonfiction book, READ WELL, THINK WELL: BUILD YOUR CHILD’S READING, COMPREHENSION, AND CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS, will be stopping off at If Books Could Talk and The Writer’s Life today!

Millions of children struggle with reading-and even more struggle to understand exactly what they’re reading. Read Well, Think Well will help you to teach your children to build the essential reading and comprehension skills they need to succeed in today’s demanding school system. Teacher trainer and literacy specialist Hal W. Lanse, Ph.D., provides the necessary knowledge, strategies, and exercises that will turn your kids into first-rate readers and thinkers.

If you would like to find out more about Hal and his book, READ WELL, THINK WELL, visit www.readwellthinkwell.wordpress.com!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors’ blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available. The winner will be announced on our main blog at www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.wordpress.com on August 31!

Virtual Book Tour: Romantic Suspense Author Mary Burton Visits The Book Connection!

Mary Burton, author of the romantic suspense novel, I’M WATCHING YOU, will be stopping off at The Book Connection today!

A killer is on the loose. Lindsay O’Neil discovers the first victim in the yard at Sanctuary, the shelter for battered women that she runs in Richmond, Virginia. If that’s not bad enough, the detective who arrives on the scene is recovering alcoholic Zack Kier, her ex-husband. As the killing continues it becomes shockingly clear that Lindsay is being stalked by an enraged murderer—and that she and those she loves are targets.

You can find out more about Mary and her romantic suspense book, I'M WATCHING YOU, at www.maryburton.com!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors’ blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available. The winner will be announced on our main blog at www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.wordpress.com on August 31!

Book Marketing Buzz Ten Book Back to School Giveaway Extravaganza

Book Marketing Buzz is hosting a 10 book giveaway extravaganza and the ten books they will be giving away are being donated by education expert and author Hal W. Lanse, Ph.D. in his fight to help our children learn how to read!

Yep, Hal is giving away TEN copies of his latest book, READ WELL, THINK WELL: BUILD YOUR CHILD'S READING, COMPREHENSION, AND CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS to TEN LUCKY PEOPLE! That's right, folks! TEN COPIES TO TEN LUCKY PEOPLE!

But, there's a catch. His instructions are that you've got to come up with the cleverest guerrilla marketing plan for his book - one that requires no upfront fees for him. Something that's absolutely and completely free. Sound hard? Put on those thinking caps and if you think you have the cleverest idea on how Hal can market his book, run over to Book Marketing Buzz and leave your clever idea in the comment box. Hurry! Contest begins today, August 13 and ends August 29. Winners will be announced on the blog on August 30! Tell your friends...tell your neighbors...let's celebrate the end of summer by helping children learn how to read so that back to school will be fun!

What better way to end your summer with a free book that will help get rid of illiteracy in today's children???

Good luck and help a child learn how to read! You'll be glad you did!

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: LEFT TO DIE by Lisa Jackson

Left to Die
Lisa Jackson
Zebra Books
ISBN-10: 1420102761
ISBN-13: 978-1420102765
484 pages

The first of her best selling romantic thrillers to be set in Montana, LEFT TO DIE takes readers to the magnificent Bitteroot Mountain Range, its beauty marred by the horror of the killings taking place there.

In nearby Granite Falls, the sheriff’s department and the FBI are struggling to catch a break in their pursuit of a murderer they’re certain is a serial killer. Patience may be a virtue, but with no real evidence time becomes the enemy for Detectives Regan Pescoli and Selena Alvarez. Tempers frayed, anxiety high, they’re turning over every rock they can to find something, anything that will send them in a new direction. Then Jillian Rivers’ car plummets into a canyon, her front tires shot out and, as with the victims before her, she is nowhere to be found.

When Jillian comes to in the heart of mountains, she’s stranded in the cabin of her rescuer, Zane MacGregor. A winter storm rages around them. Injured, Jillian must rely on MacGregor, wants to trust him. But she knows a killer is running rampant in the area—one whose victims, tied naked to a tree, are left to die. MacGregor’s secrets and disappearances keep her on edge, afraid and lead to only question—is he her hero or her killer?

About the Author:

In LEFT TO DIE, Lisa Jackson creates a storm ravaged world and fills it with an array of characters and relationships involving colleagues, families, partners, spouses, exes and lovers, presenting a tale that frightens and intrigues as much as it entertains.

The author of more than a dozen New York Times Best Sellers, including the number one ranked Fatal Burn, Lisa Jackson’s talent for exploring the dark side of life has brought her national recognition as a writer whose novels are eagerly anticipated by readers and booksellers alike. In 2007 alone, Jackson had four best sellers. The first, in February, was the paperback original Most Likely to Die, co-authored with Beverly Barton and Wendy Corsi Staub. It was followed by the reprint edition of Shiver in March, Absolute Fear in hardcover in April, and the paperback original Almost Dead in August. In 2008 the mass market reprint Absolute Fear and her new hardcover thriller, LOST SOULS, continue her bestseller streak as they lead into the publication of LEFT TO DIE, her new mass market paperback original.

You can visit her website at www.lisajackson.com.

Pick up your copy of Lisa Jackson's latest bestselling novel, LEFT TO DIE, by clicking here!

_________________________________________

LEFT TO DIE VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08 will officially begin on August 4 and end on August 29. You can visit Lisa's tour stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com in August to find out more about her and her new book!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available. The winner will be announced on our main blog at www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.wordpress.com on August 31!

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: READ WELL, THINK WELL by Hal W. Lanse, Ph.D.

Read Well, Think Well: Build Your Child's Reading, Comprehension, and Critical Thinking Skills
Hal W. Lanse, Ph.D.
Adams Media, Inc.
ISBN-10: 159869782X
ISBN-13: 978-1598697827
240 pages

Millions of children struggle with reading-and even more struggle to understand exactly what they're reading. Read Well, Think Well will help you to teach your children to build the essential reading and comprehension skills they need to succeed in today's demanding school system. Teacher trainer and literacy specialist Hal W. Lanse, Ph.D., provides the necessary knowledge, strategies, and exercises that will turn your kids into first-rate readers and thinkers.

Learn how to:

Choose the best, age-appropriate reading material

Boost your child's memory and retention skills through verbal and visual exercises

Utilize technology aids to help your child understand the comprehension process

Understand the "Big Six" of reading comprehension through analysis and summary of the text

Promote values for everyday life through reading

Read Well, Think Well-the ultimate guide to secure your child's academic success.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE!

_____________________________________________

THE READ WELL THINK WELL VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08 will officially begin on August 4, 2008 and continue all month. You can visit Dr. Lanse's tour stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com in August!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author with a recent release or a $25 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they come available. The winners will be announced on our company's blog on August 31!

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: THE 99TH MONKEY by Eliezer Sobel

The 99th Monkey: A Spiritual Journalist's Misadventures with Gurus, Messiahs, Sex, Psychedelics, and Other Consciousness-Raising Experiments
Eliezer Sobel
Santa Monica Press
ISBN-10: 159580028X
ISBN-13: 978-1595800282

The 99^th Monkey is the story of one man’s utter failure to get enlightened, despite over 30 years of trying. Eliezer Sobel invites readers along on what is both a hilarious and astounding journey through the spiritual, New Age and Human Potential movements of the last 35 years, providing an insider’s view that is at once eye-opening, deeply moving, and completely entertaining.

From encounters with enlightened beings, saints and madmen, to ingesting a powerful shamantic brew in the forests of Brazil at all-night ceremonies; from 40-days alone on a mountaintop, to 60 hours in hotel ballrooms at crash courses in consciousness; from the ashrams and gurus of India to the rebbes in Jerusalem and a ten-day Zen retreat at Auschwitz, there were very few extremes to which Sobel did not go in his life-long quest for self-realization. ("Don't even ask about the 'Tush Push,' which was a partner exercise I did during a Human Sexuality Workshop. Or the very obese female therapist who sat on my head for twenty-five minutes at Esalen Institute so I could re-experience being smothered by my mother."

Although he claims to come out at the end feeling pretty much like the same guy as when he started, and while he suggests that bookstores create a new category for his book alongside the Self-Help section to be called "No Help Whatsoever," The 99th Monkey is actually a modern-day hero's journey that contains its own unique blend of wisdom and insight into what it really means to be a human being.

Reviews:

"This book made me happier than most of the spiritual books I read these days. Enjoy."
—Wes `Scoop' Nisker, Buddhist meditation teacher, author, and performer

“Funny, beautifully written, and often extremely moving and thought-provoking.”
—Colin Wilson, author, A Criminal History of Mankind

"Sobel's utter failure to get enlightened is chronicled with laughter, irreverence, insight and raw truth."
—Gabrielle Roth, dancer, director, and author, Connections

“An extraordinary and challenging journey through the contemporary worlds of spiritual exploration and the human potential movement.”
—Rabbi David A. Cooper, author, Ecstatic Kabbalah and God is a Verb
_________________________________________________

THE 99TH MONKEY VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08 will officially begin on August 4, 2008 and continue all month. You can visit Eliezer's tour stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com in August!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they come available. The winners will be announced on our agency's blog on August 31!

Eliezer's virtual book tour is being brought to you by Pump Up Your Book Promotion and choreographed by Dorothy Thompson.

VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR: #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Lisa Jackson Visits Talk About My Favorite Authors!

Lisa Jackson, author of the romantic suspense novel, LEFT TO DIE, will be stopping off at Talk About My Favorite Authors today on her first stop of her LEFT TO DIE VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08! In LEFT TO DIE, Lisa Jackson creates a storm ravaged world and fills it with an array of characters and relationships involving colleagues, families, partners, spouses, exes and lovers, presenting a tale that frightens and intrigues as much as it entertains.

LEFT TO DIE VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR ‘08 will officially begin on August 4 and end on August 29. You can visit Lisa's tour stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com in August to find out more about her and her newly released book!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors’ blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available. The winner will be announced on our main blog at www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.wordpress.com on August 31!

Lisa Jackson’s virtual book tour is being brought to you by Pump Up Your Book Promotion and choreographed by Dorothy Thompson.

VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR: Romantic Suspense Author Mary Burton at In Bed With Books!

Mary Burton, author of the romantic suspense novel, I'M WATCHING YOU, will be stopping off at In Bed With Books on her first stop for her I'M WATCHING YOU VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08! A killer is on the loose. Lindsay O’Neil discovers the first victim in the yard at Sanctuary, the shelter for battered women that she runs in Richmond, Virginia. If that’s not bad enough, the detective who arrives on the scene is recovering alcoholic Zack Kier, her ex-husband. As the killing continues it becomes shockingly clear that Lindsay is being stalked by an enraged murderer—and that she and those she loves are targets.

I'M WATCHING YOU VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08 will officially begin on August 4 and end on August 29. You can visit the Mary's tour stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com in August to find out more about her and her book!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available. The winner will be announced on our main blog at www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.wordpress.com on August 31!

Mary's virtual book tour is being brought to you by Pump Up Your Book Promotion and choreographed by Dorothy Thompson.