Interview with Life Coach Sheri Kaye Hoff

Sheri Kaye Hoff is a Life Coach and owner of the Sheri K Hoff International Coaching Company. She also teaches college classes as an adjunct faculty member and has earned her Master of Arts in Organizational Management. Her new book, Keys to Living Joyfully, offers a way of living a meaningful, successful and joy filled life.

You can visit her website at www.lifeisjoyful.org.

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

Keys to Living Joyfully is about living a meaningful life with peace, passion, energy, and joy. The book focuses on the importance of one’s thought life, spirituality, and being motivated through inspiration. I wrote this book because I experienced the tragic death of my brother when he was 15 and I was 17. For many of my adult years, I was impacted by this devastating event. I truly felt that I did not deserve joy and that I would never find true joy again. I alternated between feeling numb and slightly depressed. For the most part, my outward demeanor was enthusiastic, and I am sure others would describe me as happy and successful. When I realized that I did have the capacity for joy and how to create it-I felt a deep desire to share this with others. I have spent years of my life studying leadership literature and I teach at a college-so I effectively combined my spiritual life with great personal leadership skills in my book.

Keys to Living Joyfully is a spiritual book. Why did you choose this genre to write? Did you choose it or did it choose you?

This genre chose me. I always thought that I would be the next Margaret Mitchell writing a great historical novel or I pictured myself writing leadership books (which are still plans that I have). However, my book seemed to write itself. Every time I sat down to write-the words just flowed into the computer-and I had very little rewriting or changing the organization of the book. I did not have one single blocked moment. I feel that this book was meant to be.
In regards to promotion, what have you been doing to promote your book online?

I have my website www.lifeisjoyful.org and I use Facebook, Twitter, AuthorsDen, and squidoo.

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

The most effective promotion has been promoting my blog on Twitter.


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?

Without the internet, I would not have attempted to self-publish through Createspace. It would be too hard to create buzz and reach markets. Almost all of my promoting is on the internet-though I do have some speaking engagements.

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 would take 100 copies of my book and hand them out to people asking them if they wanted more peace, passion, energy, and joy in their lives every moment of every day.

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

I would like to trade places with Stephen Covey. I read his 7 habits book when I was on bedrest for 11 weeks when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter. When he wrote about prisoners (Anwar Sadat and Viktor Frankl) who were able to feel more free while they were in prison (because their minds were free), I realized that though I could only stand up for three minutes of every hour-my mind was free. It was an exhilarating realization at a time when I could have felt sorry for myself. I think Stephen Covey’s life work is an amazing contribution to our body of knowledge regarding personal leadership skills.

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

My book is already a success. I know this because people have begun sending me their life stories (often very tragic) and they tell me that this book touched their hearts. Yes, I want to be a best selling author-but my book is here on this earth for a reason-to touch hearts and help people to move forward and grow.

Thank you for this interview, Sheri. Can you tell us where everyone can pick up a copy of Keys to Living Joyfully?

Keys to Living Joyfully is available on Amazon.

Editor's Note: Sheri Kaye Hoff will be traveling the blogosphere throughout March and April to talk about her new book, Keys to Living Joyfully. If you would like to interview her, have her guest blog or review her book for her virtual book tour, email Dorothy Thompson at thewriterslife(at)yahoo.com. If you would like to find out more about Sheri, visit her official tour page here.

Interview with Historical Fiction Author J.A. Hunsinger

J. A. Hunsinger lives in Colorado, USA, with his wife Phyllis. The first novel of his character-driven, historical fiction series, Axe of Iron: The Settlers, represents his first serious effort to craft the story of a lifelong interest in the Viking Age—especially as it pertains to Norse exploration west of Iceland—and extensive research and archaeological site visitations as an amateur historian. He has tied the discovery of many of the Norse artifacts found on this continent to places and events portrayed in his novels.

Much of his adult life has been associated with commercial aviation, both in and out of the cockpit. As an Engineering Technical Writer for Honeywell Commercial Flight Systems Group, Phoenix, AZ, he authored two comprehensive pilots’ manuals on aircraft computer guidance systems and several supplemental aircraft radar manuals. His manuals were published and distributed worldwide to airline operators by Honeywell Engineering, Phoenix, AZ. He also published an article, Flight Into Danger, in Flying Magazine, (August 2002).

Historical Novel Society, American Institute of Archaeology, Canadian Archaeology Association, and IBPA-Independent Book Publishers Association, are among the fraternal and trade organizations in which he holds membership.

You can visit his website at www.vinlandpublishing.com and his blog at www.vinlandpublishing.blogspot.com.

Welcome to Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion, Jerry. Can we begin by having you tell us what Axe of Iron: The Settlers is about and why you wrote it?

The Settlers is character-driven historical fiction.
Why did you choose this genre to write?

The Vikings have been a lifelong interest and any novel about them will be historical fiction. Did you choose it or did it choose you? A little of both I think. My heritage is Swedish/German and I believe writing these books is my destiny.
In regards to promotion, what have you been doing to promote your book online?

I have both a website: http://www.vinlandpublishing.com/ and a blog: http://www.vinlandpublishing.blogspot.com/. I have also signed up for several social networking sites for writers, Google Book Search, and everything that Amazon has for writers of books.

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

I do not know at this point, the book was published August 2008 and the jury is still out on what is the most effective. I believe that the internet is rapidly replacing all other advertising methods because of cost and the amazing level of exposure.

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! As I said I believe max internet exposure is the key in this business. A case in point: Google J. A. Hunsinger, or the book’s title and see what happens. I am pretty happy about that level of exposure.
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 would say that I am telling a continuing story in a series of books about medieval Vikings and their struggle to settle and eventually assimilate with the native people in North America. It is a story of strife, hate, love, sex, warfare, and every other element that one would expect from a novel taking place one thousand years ago in a primitive new land.

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

I do not want to trade places with any other author, but I would certainly welcome a beer or coffee with Mel Gibson because I have written his kind of book.

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

I want the word out there so people will ask for it, read it, and like the experience enough to tell others that they just read this great book .

Thank you for coming, Jerry! Can you tell us where everyone can pick up a copy of Axe of Iron: The Settlers?

The book is available from my distributor, AtlasBooks from my website and nationwide at major booksellers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Book-A-Million, etc.








J.A. Hunsinger will be on virtual book tour in March and April '09. Please visit his official tour page here to find out more about his new book, Axe of Iron: The Settlers! If you would like to host Jerry on your blog during his virtual book tour in March, send us an email to thewriterslife@yahoo.com. Please put "I want to host J.A. Hunsinger" in the subject line. Thank you!