Friday Fun Facts: An A+ Note from a Reviewer

It's always awesome to read reviews of our books, right? But it's also cool to hear the words *behind* a review, and I was lucky enough to have my assistant forward me an email the other day that had just that. This review won't post until next week, but the reviewer wrote to say this, about Inferno of Love:

   This novel is by far one of the best reads that we have had the pleasure of reading! Sometimes as reviewers and as readers we forget why we began reading books in the first place as often modern day novels are often repeats of prior plots or common characters and that alone can sometimes go tiring. This was not the case with Boniface's novel. She remind us of what we truly love about a great book, the plot and the romance!

  On behalf of our team we want to personally say thank you for giving us the opportunity to review Inferno of Love and we hope that you will continue to pass along to us new reviews to share with our readers.

  The rating that we have given Inferno of Love is 4/5 hearts which means it was close to being named a perfected read. 

Heart-warming, to be sure :) Have you picked up your discounted copy of this book? 

Writer's Wednesday: Inferno of Love is Now Available!!

What happens when your soul mate returns after twelve long years...and has no idea who you are?

Now available in both Kindle and print! Limited-time sale price of $0.99

Twelve years ago, Finn and Aubrey fell in love in Lindsey Point. But that was before a local fire turned him into a hero and a horrific accident stole her memory. When they finally reunite, sparks fly and memories return -- but so do long-lost secrets and locals who want them to stay buried. Now they must come to terms with the past if they have any chance of building a future together... 

And it already has its first review, 4 stars!

Red Cheeks Reads says, I started “Inferno of Love” right after reading the first book in the series “Beacon of Love” so I was excited to hear Finn’s story... I had high hopes after reading the first book and I was not disappointed at all! This was definitely a page turner! The dual POV lets you see both Finn and Aubrey’s perspective and the author does a great job once again at writing an excellent mystery that kept me guessing!

Buy your copy today!

Monday's Mentionables: It's a Hometown Heroes Week!

Happy Monday, everyone! I'm thrilled that it's release week for Inferno of Love - TOMORROW is the big day! And just in time, you can see a sneak peek in the trailer:



If you didn't have a chance to read Beacon of Love, the first book in the Hometown Heroes series, it's not too late to pick it up. Just yesterday the book received a beautiful 5-star review on Amazon that took my breath away:

"Such an addictive read. I was drawn into the story immediately and couldn't put it down. Those that love mysteries, set in small towns, are going to love this book. Beacon of Love is filled with loveable characters, romance, mystery and all the right elements to make it a great read. This was the perfect read for the miserable weather we're currently experiencing in my area. Nothing like curling up with a great book on a rainy day."

Thank you so much! I love my readers!

Writers' Wednesday: My Experiment with Perma-Free

"A beautifully original story. Loved the characters. I picked it up as a free book. But it would be worth the money. I would love to find a place like Paradise. So well written you can feel yourself standing among the story unfolding. Wonderfully heartwarming love story. Highly recommended."

For indie authors, making a book "perma-free" is one of many marketing options. Basically this means offering a book for free, indefinitely. Ideally it's one in a series, so if readers like the story, they will go out and spend money on the others in the series.

For a while, I wasn't sure what I thought about this concept – I mean, we work hard on our books! I didn't know if I wanted to just give a title away. But The Promise of Paradise has been out for a year now, and done relatively well sales-wise, so I thought I'd give it a try. First off, though, you can't just set a book's price to $0.00 on Amazon (if you participate in the Amazon KDP program, you can offer your book for free for 5 days every 3 months, but I wanted to see what would happen for a longer period of time). So you have to "price match," which basically means making it free in other sales channels (like Smashwords, the popular website for indie authors) and then hope once sites like Barnes and Noble or Sony make it free, Amazon will follow suit.

It took about a week, but Amazon did finally make The Promise of Paradise free. This happened one week ago Tuesday. Within a day, it was climbing some of Amazon's "Top Free" lists, and by Thursday it was #1 in Women's Fiction and Romance. I think it got as high as #45 on the Top Free overall list. Not bad, especially since I didn't do a whole lot of marketing besides tweeting and posting on Facebook about it.

BookBub, a popular email subscription service authors can pay to have their titles listed with, gives a range of 21,000 for Contemporary Romance downloads and 14,000 for Women's Fiction downloads if you advertise with them. In the week it's been free, I've had just over 8000 downloads of The Promise of Paradise, so I'm pretty happy with that (since I've spent $0 on advertising it). Beyond that, I've sold an additional 30 books of Beacon of Love, my other new title, and I attribute those sales to the free downloads, since I do have an excerpt in the back of The Promise of Paradise and tell readers that they'll see a familiar character in Beacon of Love.

Another plus: I've gotten 4 new 5-star reviews on Amazon, which is terrific. That means that The Promise of Paradise is getting to people who have never read anything by me before and will hopefully want to read more.

It turns out the perma-free thing has more benefits than I would have thought. Certainly sales of my other books aren't through the roof, but they've definitely picked up. I'm reaching new readers. And I'm still in the Top 10 of both Free lists in Women's Fiction and Romance, which means many Amazon customers are seeing the title when they're browsing those categories. The fun thing is that I have control over all of this – another plus when it comes to indie publishing! 

Monday Mentionables: New Reviews and a Book Club!

Happy Monday, everyone! What's worth mentioning today? Well, let's see...

There's a lovely new 5-star review of Beacon of Love posted over at Sinfully Tasty Reads :) Big thanks to Debbie who said, "This was the perfect mix of romance meets classic who done it...I loved the chemistry between Sophie and Lucas. They just had a connection right from the start and loved it as the relationship developed. "

I attended a book club yesterday where The Promise of Paradise was the featured read and had a great time chatting about books and reading with the women there. Among the things discussed were that they LOVE series (good thing I have 2 coming out this year!), they love detail when it comes to character and setting, and they will definitely ask questions about a character's back-story and which character is getting his or her own story next. I always love hearing what other people enjoy reading and why they enjoy it.

One more week until the release of Inferno of Love! Don't forget that you can get a peek at Smashwords, where's it up for pre-order AND you can read the opening chapters for free!

Friday Fun Facts: Free & Upcoming Books!

Happy Friday! It's been a pretty exciting week in my writing world. Why? Here's the skinny in case you don't follow me on Facebook or Twitter:

The Promise of Paradise is FREE on Kindle (and Nook) right now, and between Tuesday and Thursday it went to the top of Amazon's free lists in both Women's Fiction and Romance! It's slipped a little since then, but I made sure to take a screen shot of when it was at #1:

It's always tough to tell if free downloads translate into sales of other titles, but hey, I figure that there are a few thousand people with my book on their Kindle who didn't have it before, so we'll be optimistic and hope that once they read the book, they'll love it and want to read more!

Also, Inferno of Love is now available for pre-order at Smashwords! It will officially release on March 18, but you can reserve yours on sale anytime between now and then. You can read the blurb and find out more by clicking here.

Have a great weekend!

Writers' Wednesday: Promo Sites!

Hey gang, it's a busy week here (Inferno of Love will be available for pre-order soon!) but I wanted to share a couple of promo sites with authors:

Ebook Soda - brand new email subscription service, similar to BookBub, and they're brand new so right now there's no charge to place a book ad with them!

A Girl and Her Kindle - she'll be reviewing Beacon of Love later this week, and she's gotten favorable feedback from other authors I respect, so check out her site for relatively inexpensive social media exposure.

Digital Book Today - has been around a while and although I haven't seen HUGE bumps when I run ads with them, they're reputable and have a lot of viewers, which is always a good thing.

There are many, many others of course, but I always like to share the newer ones I've come across. Happy writing!

Friday Fun Facts: Brrrrrrr!!!

Are you ready for Old Man Winter to give it a rest yet? Just when we thought we might be in the clear, the temperatures here in the Hudson Valley, NY, have dipped below zero yet again AND there's a storm coming our way Sunday. Enough! We still have over a foot of snow on the ground, and that's not even talking about the banks that have been snowplowed along the side of the road or in parking lots. Ten feet tall easily! It's a challenge to even go to the store today, because you don't know whether you'll find a parking spot.

With all that in mind, don't forget that an escape to a summer climate, to a seaside coast, is the perfect way to chase the winter blues away. The Promise of Paradise is all about summer heat in a small town, as is Beacon of Love. Guess I have a common theme of wanting to be warm! (in more ways than one)

And for those of you who are writers (or who are interested), Beacon of Love is just one little Amazon review away from 10, which is the magic number for some of the bigger marketing and promotion sites. I'd love to see that 10th review :) If you read the book and liked it, would you share your thoughts!

Thanks, happy Friday, and STAY WARM!!

Writers' Wednesday: Enter to Win a Signed Copy of a Hometown Heroes Book!

Hey readers! Today you can enter to win a signed print copy of either Beacon of Love OR Inferno of Love (this is a pre-release copy; you'll see it before the general reading public)! I'm giving away 2 copies of each book to lucky winners over at Goodreads. It's super-easy to enter, as long as you're a member.

This is the last week that Beacon of Love will be on sale for only $0.99, so grab your copy if you haven't had a chance yet. And remember, one of the loveliest things you can do for writers you enjoy is to leave them a review ;)

Have a great day!

Friday Fun Facts: The Hometown Heroes Series is Here!

TGIF! Of course, it's kind of a weird Friday here in New York, since we had Presidents' Weekend last week, combined with 2 extra snow days on either end, so for those of us who are teachers, we just got back to school and now we have a weekend again! Sure, sure, snow days SOUND good, but after awhile it just becomes clearing snow and sitting inside and thinking about how you're going to catch up and teach everything in the days that remain.

But anyway...

Have you gotten your copy of Beacon of Love over at Amazon? If you've already read the story of Sophie and Lucas, I hope you'll consider leaving a review on its new Amazon page. Readers love reviews for discovering potential new authors :)

It's also probably not to soon to mention that the sequel to this story, Inferno of Love, will release in just about a month, and I'm soooo excited for that one! It will be available on Kindle, Nook, and in print as well, so you can get whichever version works best for you. To whet your appetite, here's a link to the Tour Page over at Black Lion, which features the blurb and a short excerpt. Enjoy!

Writers' Wednesday: Beacon of Love is Now Available!

Woo hoo! I'm super excited to share the news that Beacon of Love, the first book in the Hometown Heroes series, is now available on Amazon's Kindle for the sale price of only $0.99! Now through the end of the month, you can pick up this story and re-familiarize yourself with Sophie, Lucas, and the town of Lindsey Point and its haunted lighthouse. Don't worry - it will also be available at Barnes & Noble, Sony, and iTunes shortly too. I'll make sure to share those links :)

If you already read (and enjoyed) Beacon of Love when it originally released last year, I would love for you to leave a review on Amazon. Reviews drive sales, and I'd love the re-release of this story to have a nice bump before the brand new, never-before-released sequel, Inferno of Love, comes out next month!

Thank You!

Friday Fun Facts: Pre-Order Beacon of Love Now!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Just in time for this lovers' holiday, you can pre-order Beacon of Love for the super-low re-release price of $0.99! Smashwords is featuring the pre-order, and it should soon be up on Barnes & Noble as well.

In other news, I'm going away for the long weekend to a place that has more snow....yes, more than is in my front yard, which after yesterday is about 2 feet. It's a Presidents' Weekend snowy getaway, and while the people I'm with will probably be doing all kinds of outdoor winter activities, I'm hoping to stay inside and get some writing done. No Internet or TV, so at least I won't have those distractions.

I'm hoping it will be cozy and quiet, more like The Holiday

and less like, well, The Shining

(not like I'm going away with a madman or anything, just that I'll be in an isolated hotel in the middle of a snowstorm).

Here's to getting a lot of new words written on a new book ~ I"ll give you the update next week!

Writers' Wednesday: The Re-Release of Beacon of Love is 1 Week Away!

Hello readers! I'm thrilled to let you know that the re-release of Beacon of Love is happening next week, so that means if you didn't get around to reading it last year when it came out, you'll soon be able to! Even better, for the month of February, it will be on sale for only $.99 - less than a cup of coffee! Want to know what readers thought of it? Reviews over on Goodreads if you're interested.

For writers, here are a couple of links to share with you today, courtesy of BookBaby. The first is a blog post about where to post your free/sale ebooks (always helpful info!) and the second is a pointed article about how to use - and not use - social media to your advantage when you're first releasing a book. Good stuff!

Now, to bunker down and prepare for the snow....more snow....always more snow....

Monday Mentionables: Why I'm Not Watching the Winter Olympics

"Be the change you want to see in the world." (Mahatma Gandhi)

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter." (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Today's post admittedly has little to do with writing or my books that are releasing shortly, but I felt the need to vent today. So bear with me.

I am not watching the 2014 Winter Olympics this year. I have the feeling I am in the minority when it comes to this decision, being a person who would normally enjoy watching the opening ceremony and cheering for the figure skaters and oohing and aahing over the ski jumpers and rooting on the speed skaters and hockey teams. But this year, in the wake of not only the whole stray dog-killing scandal but also Russia's blatant anti-gay legislation, I feel that I can't watch the competition when it is supported, organized, and marketed by a country that goes against two of my greatest beliefs.

I know what I stand for. Human rights and the equal treatment of human beings, and ethical treatment of animals, are two of the biggest. I also know that my watching, or not watching, the Olympics as a single viewer will have little effect on the event as a whole. I also know that the athletes are not the ones to blame, and that their performance and preparation should have nothing to do with the political beliefs or practices of the country in which the competition happens to take place this year.

But, finally, I also know that I could not, in good faith, be a role model for my students, my friends, or my community members, or be the kind of person I want to be, if I did not stand up for my beliefs. I believe we should all be true to ourselves, whatever that means to us. That is why I decided to publish my Hometown Heroes as an indie publisher, (haha - got a writing reference in after all!) why I write sex scenes that take place behind closed doors, and, finally, why I will not be watching the Winter Olympics.

To each her own. Have a great Monday, friends.

Friday Fun Facts: Come Visit Lindsey Point With Me!

BEACON OF LOVE is releasing this month!

Welcome to Lindsey Point, Connecticut: suspicious of outsiders, loyal to tradition, and absolutely devoted to its local legends. Enter Sophie Smithwaite, travel show host, in town to film an episode about Lindsey Point’s haunted lighthouse. But digging into the story of a tragic murder-suicide and love gone wrong reveals startling connections to Sophie’s own past. 

When a gorgeous local handyman fills in behind the camera, Sophie’s life gets complicated by more than just her family history. Part-time paramedic, handyman, seasonal Santa... Lucas Oakes does it all--except get attached. He’s still reeling from the death of his best friend ten years ago and the more recent infidelity of his ex-fiancee. 

Yet despite Sophie’s big-city nosiness and her insistence on chasing long-dead ghosts, he’s drawn to her. But mixing with an outsider means questioning people and traditions Lucas has always defended. When a series of attacks seem to be connected to Sophie’s investigation, both Sophie and Lucas must decide if they are willing to risk everything to uncover the town’s secrets...and their own.

*****

So I was thinking the other day, wouldn't it be neat if my readers could virtually "visit" the town of Lindsey Point before they read the stories of Lucas and Sophie and Finn and Aubrey? I've been playing around with this for a few days...nothing fancy, just fun. Just click on the book cover above, then select your full screen option (lower right corner of the presentation screen). To move from spot to spot, just click on the arrows at the bottom of the screen. Please let me know what you think!

Writers' Wednesday: Sharing my Shiny Cover for Beacon of Love!

Ta daa! Here's my beautiful new cover for Beacon of Love! Don't you just love it?! Thanks to the talented Amy Gamet for designing it. This book will be re-released (at a super-discounted price) later this month, so stay tuned!

Also, I've been playing around with a cool way for you to "visit" the town of Lindsey Point before you even open the cover of the book. I'll be sharing that virtual visit too. Now....off to watch the snow fall!

Monday Mentionables: Design Updates

Well, if you're here reading my blog, you'll probably notice a change in its design. My very talented web designer, Jo of Glass Slipper Web Design, updated not only my blog but my website AND the header for my Facebook page. I think they're gorgeous! She used the cover of the super-sensual The Promise of Paradise cover as a model, and I think it matches the tone of my books terrifically. What do you think of the new look?

Plus, if you haven't yet signed up for my newsletter, make sure you do that while you're over at my website. I'll have 2 releases coming up in the next couple of months, and I want to make sure all my readers know when they'll be available! Stay tuned for the beautiful new cover of Beacon of Love, as well!

Friday Fun Facts: Why I Decided to Indie Publish (This Time)

Update to Monday's post...

After a whole lot of deliberation, going back and forth, talking to a lot of authors at different points in their writing careers, I've decided not to sign with Lyrical/Kensington. Instead, I'm keeping the rights to both Beacon of Love and Inferno of Love, and I'll release those myself.

Yes, it seems a little crazy in the abstract: I turned down contracts for 2 books from a NY publisher. For a writer who's spent years dreaming of being offered a dream contract with a traditional publisher, that seems like the craziest decision I could ever make. There were actually a lot of reasons I decided to go with indie published, though, and while I am not by any stretch of the imagination a household name or a regular best-selling author, I have enough experience with publishing, and enough readers, that I decided I wanted to keep the control and the profits for myself. Of course this is a risk; an established NY publisher can offer a lot to an author...IF they put the funds and the marketing behind that author.

Today, things are shifting in the publishing world. Authors are realizing that they don't NEED publishers to sell their books, to market to online readers or to build their following. In fact, a lot of the marketing that NY publishers do for their digital titles are things that indie authors can do themselves. Quite a few established authors are also releasing their agents, because they don't need to give 15% of their royalties to someone else in order to secure publishing contracts. Authors can sell more, and make more, through their own efforts.

If you really want to be wowed, read this post by Brenna Aubrey and this post by Matthew Mather.

This is not a rah-rah blog post saying that everyone should self-publish their own books. It is a lot of work, it requires an investment up front, and some self-published genres (like romance) sell better than others. I have decided to publish my own books, at least for the time being, and primarily to the digital market. That doesn't mean that I won't consider seeking out an agent or a traditional publisher in the future. It DOES mean that Beacon of Love will soon be available as a re-release and with a beautiful new cover in the next couple of weeks  AND that its sequel, Inferno of Love, will be available in early spring as well!

Stay tuned!

Monday Mentionables: Why Authors Rock

Ok, here's the thing: authors rock. And I don't mean they rock because they bleed plot lines and sweat character arcs and generally suffer in a very solitary manner to produce stories that readers may or may not decide to buy.

They rock because they help each other out.

In the 7+ years I've been bouncing around this industry, trying to find my feet and figure out the ins and outs of the publishing world, I have had the good fortune to come in contact with authors from around the world, in all genres and from all backgrounds, and they have inevitably given of themselves to help me (and others) negotiate the twists and turns in the road.

Never has this been more true than over the past weekend, when I was (still am) struggling with my decision whether or not to sign 2 contracts with Kensington or venture out on my own and publish those titles independently. You would think this would be a relatively painless decision. I mean, I'm not a newbie. I know what things to look out for, what things to consider...but it's still a tough call. There are pros and cons on both sides. So when I reached out to other authors for their advice, some of whom I knew personally, most of whom I didn't, the response was stunning.

In an eight hour period, no fewer than 20 authors responded - some on the author loop where I had posted my questions, more through my email account. They were new authors and seasoned authors, NY Times best-selling authors, those published with big name publishers and those who'd taken their rights back and published themselves, and just about everything in between. And they were, every one of them, sincere and genuine and open and honest with their advice. They told me what they'd experienced. They gave me numbers. They gave me concrete examples. They wrote with lots of exclamation points and ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, and at the end, every one of them wished me well with whatever decision I ultimately made.

Where else can you get support like that? I am truly happy to be a part of such a giving group of professionals. Now....when I finally decide what I'm going to do with those titles, I'll let you know!

Friday Fun Facts: Thanking my Awesome Beta Readers

As I promised, today I wanted to thank the beta readers who've been invaluable in reading over my Works-in-Progress over the last few years. As any writer knows, bouncing ideas off other writers, and sharing your baby with them before it goes out into the publishing world, can help improve the work incredibly. Outside readers have the ability to see things you can't, to ask questions that never occurred to you, and to point out all those "oops" in your stories, whether it's missing words or comma errors or huge plot holes.

A big THANK YOU to my faithful readers (please visit their website and support them too!)

Liz Matis, spicy sports romance author and indie publishing whiz

Janet Walters, founding member of my local RWA chapter and an incredibly prolific writer in almost every romance sub-genre

Cynthia Borris, who writes great romantic humor and who I "met" virtually years ago. We live on opposite coasts and have met in person exactly once :)

And dear friends Yolanda Sly and Tamara D., who unfailingly read my manuscripts, work full-time jobs, and still find time to meet for Starbucks or pedicures.

Writers, who's in your support network?